Photo Credit: John Woods
Winnipeg Jets (13-12-0) at Montreal Canadiens (13-9-3)
Venue: Bell Centre
Date: Tonight – Wednesday, December 3
Time: 6:30 pm CST
How To Watch: Sportsnet
Radio: 680 CJOB
Purchase tickets via Ticketmaster
Winnipeg Jets News & Notes:
The Winnipeg Jets close their road stretch against the Montreal Canadiens with the hopes to bounce back from one of the worst performances of the season the team has had. Winnipeg suffered a 5-1 loss from the Buffalo Sabres on Monday night, and it sparked necessary criticism for the team and how they might fair long-term. Neal Pionk is still listed day-to-day, but is skating in a regular sweater for the Winnipeg Jets. It feels like a toss up whether or not Pionk will play or if Elias Salomonsson gets another look in the lineup.
Montreal Canadiens News & Notes:
The Montreal Canadiens are closing out a back-to-back and looking to recover from a 5-2 loss against the Ottawa Senators. Montreal sits at a relatively even playing field for their season, as their performing up to expectations and feel like they’re in on every possible trade target available right now. They’ll look to push the Winnipeg Jets into complete panic mode with a win over the Jets at home tonight.
Winnipeg Jets Projected Lines
Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi
Namestnikov – Toews – Perfetti
Niederreiter – Lowry – Iafallo
Pearson – Barron – Nyquist
Morrissey – DeMelo
Samberg – Salomonsson
Stanley – Miller
Comrie
Milic
Montreal Canadiens Projected Lines
Caufield – Suzuki – Bolduc
Slafkovsky – Kapanen – Demidov
Texier – Evans – Anderson
F. Xhekaj – Veleno – Gallagher
Mike Matheson – Dobson
Struble – Hutson
A. Xhekaj – Carrier
Dobes
Montembeault
Players To Watch:
Winnipeg Jets
Mark Scheifele will be one of many players that must step up against Montreal tonight if Winnipeg wants to sniff getting back to their winning ways.
Cole Perfetti is coming off a good performance against Nashville, but that wasn’t enough to carryover to Buffalo, and Winnipeg needs that killer instinct element for their secondary scoring unit.
Eric Comrie is in a position where the team needs to play better in front of him, but a strong individual performance against Montreal can make it a massive show-me to the coaches and solidify their trust in the goaltender.
Montreal Canadiens
Cole Caufield is a force, and Montreal is a young, fast team. He’ll be looking to expose the Jets while they’re playing at a different level.
Juraj Slafkovsky has proved to be a strong piece for Montreal since being drafted first overall, and with a big game over Winnipeg, he could solidify his long-term future with the Canadiens.
Next game
Winnipeg Jets – December 5 vs Buffalo Sabres
Montreal Canadiens – December 6 vs Toronto Maple Leafs
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Conrad Jack is a Manitoba based sportswriter covering the Winnipeg Jets (NHL) and the Manitoba Moose (AHL). He also covers the NHL Draft and World Junior Championship for ITR. He also writes the NHL News & Rumors blog at ITR.