After being on the road the past five games, the Winnipeg Jets are finally back on home ice as they host the Edmonton Oilers at Bell MTS Place. Puck drop for tonight’s game between the Jets and Oilers is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. central time.
This game also kicks off a six-game homestand for the Jets. After tonight, the Jets will host the Toronto Maple Leafs for three games (April 21-24) and then they will finish this span of games at home with a two-game set against the Oilers (April 26-28).
The last time out, the Jets beat the Leafs 5-2 at the Scotiabank Arena on Thursday. With that win, the Jets finished their road trip with an outstanding 4-1-0 record with their only loss of the trip coming on Monday night in Ottawa.
The Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers have been battling for playoff position
The Oilers were supposed to be coming into this game after playing last night in Vancouver against the Canucks, but that game was postponed.
With that postponement, the last time Edmonton had a game was a week ago today and they lost that contest to the Calgary Flames 5-0.
Currently, the Jets sit in second place in the North Division with 57 points, but the Oilers are right on their tails with 52 points and they have two games in hand on the Jets.
Odds
The Jets are the underdogs in tonight’s matchup. This matchup is extremely interesting to look at.
The Jets are coming off of a long road trip, while the Oilers have not had a game in a week. This game is a toss-up.
Where you can Find the Game
TV: CBC, SN, TVAS, NHLN
Radio: 680 CJOB
Projected Lineups
Paul Maurice and the Jets coaching staff decided to make a change on Friday night by inserting Ville Heinola into the lineup for Logan Stanley.
It is expected that the Jets will make one change for tonight’s game. Jordie Benn is projected to come in for Heinola and make his Jets debut. Benn is expected to be paired up with Dylan DeMelo.
Connor Hellebuyck is projected to get the start in goal tonight. He was given the night off on Wednesday, but responded well by making 31 saves on picking up the win on Thursday night.
The Jets are projected to lineup like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Copp
Stastny-Dubois-Ehlers
Perreault-Lowry-Appleton
Harkins-Thompson-Lewis
Morrissey-Poolman
Forbort-Pionk
Benn-DeMelo
Hellebuyck (Brossoit)
Having not played in a week, the Oilers lineup is way more unpredictable than the Winnipeg Jets.
Edmonton will be without Ryan Nugent Hopkins, who did not make the trip and is out with an undisclosed injury.
Mike Smith is expected to start for the Oilers tonight. Smith has played in 22 games this year and has a 14-4-2 record with a 2.47 goals against average and a .918 save percentage.
The Oilers are expected to lineup like this:
Draisaitl-McDavid-Puljujarvi
Kahun-Haas-Yamamoto
Archibald-Khaira-Chiasson
Nygard-Shore-Kassian
Nurse-Barrie
Russell-Larsson
Jones-Bear
Smith (Koskinen)
Winnipeg Jets Fans: Should the Winnipeg Jets make any lineup changes for tonight’s game? Leave your comments below!
*All Stats Provided by the NHL*