The Winnipeg Jets are back in action less than 24 hours after they completed game three against the Montreal Canadiens for game four. Puck drop for tonight’s game is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. central time.
Winnipeg is looking to avoid being swept tonight after losing game three yesterday 5-1. You can read our site’s full recap of last night’s game by clicking the link here or the “Must Read” link at the bottom of this article.
The Jets are looking at a simple scenario for the rest of this series against the Canadiens: Win and stay alive or lose and get eliminated.
The Winnipeg Jets will look to keep their season alive with a win over the Montreal Canadiens tonight in game four
This is only the second time this postseason that the Jets have played on back-to-back nights. In the first round, they won both games on consecutive nights to complete the sweep over the Edmonton Oilers. Montreal also played on two straight nights in their first round series against the Toronto Maple Leafs and lost both of those games on home ice, getting outscored 6-1 over the two games.
Odds
After losing the first three games of this series, the Winnipeg Jets are the underdogs for game four.
Most people around the hockey community say that an elimination game is the toughest one to win. With that being said, expect the Jets to put up a big fight in this one as their season is on the brink.
Where you can Find the Game
TV: CBC, SN, TVAS, NHLN, NBCSN (after the Islanders vs. Boston game)
Radio: 680 CJOB
Projected Lineups
Throughout yesterday’s game three loss, Paul Maurice and the Winnipeg Jets coaching staff used many different line combinations in an effort to generate offense but it came to no avail.
It is projected that the Jets will make some changes to their top-two lines for tonight’s clash. We could see Connor, Wheeler, and Ehlers on the first line and Dubois, Stastny, and Copp on the second line.
Dominic Toninato is also projected to come into the lineup and replace Kristian Vesalinen on the fourth line.
Finally, Winnipeg is projected to make one change on defense as Ville Heinola is expected to make his NHL postseason debut and replace Jordie Benn.
Connor Hellebuyck is expected to get the start in goal after making 28 saves on 32 shots in yesterday’s contest.
The Jets are projected to lineup like this:
Connor-Wheeler-Ehlers
Dubois-Stastny-Copp
Perreault-Lowry-Appleton
Toninato-Thompson-Lewis
Morrissey-Poolman
Forbort-Pionk
Stanley-Heinola
Hellebuyck (Brossoit)
More of the same is expected from the Montreal Canadiens as they look to complete the sweep over the Winnipeg Jets.
Expect to see the same exact lineup for the Canadiens tonight as they used in both games two and three.
Carey Price is projected to start in net after another great performance yesterday. Price stopped 25 of the 26 shots he faced last night.
The Canadiens are expected to lineup like this:
Lehkonen-Danault-Gallagher
Toffoli-Suzuki-Caufield
Byron-Kotkaniemi-Anderson
Perry-Staal-Armia
Chiarot-Weber
Edmundson-Petry
Kulak-Gustafsson
Price (Allen)
Winnipeg Jets Fans: Will the Winnipeg Jets win game four and extend the series tonight? Leave your comments below!
*All Stats Provided by the NHL*