The 11-7-0 Winnipeg Jets are set to face the 10-7-2 Columbus Blue Jackets from Canada Life Centre on Tuesday evening.
The game will be Winnipeg’s first at home in 17 days, when it beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 on November 1.
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Photo by James Carey Lauder/USA TodayÂ
Since then, the Jets had been on a sub-par, six-game road trip, to which they did not record a single win against four American-based teams, while beating the Vancouver Canucks on an empty-netter and the Calgary Flames in a shootout.
Jets fans will see captain Adam Lowry, forward Cole Perfetti and defenceman Dylan Samberg in the lineup for the first time, as each player made their season debut on the lengthy road trip.
Morgan Barron will also be back after missing the entire road trip with a mid-body injury. He and Cole Koepke also joined Gustav Nyquist, who also recently returned from the team’s injured reserve.
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To make room for the trio, Winnipeg sent Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov and Parker Ford down to the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose, where they will surely fit right in on the offence.
Eric Comrie will get the start in net for Winnipeg on Tuesday, his first game since a 4-1 loss to Anaheim on November 9. He is 3-1-0 on the season for the Jets.
Winnipeg Jets’ expected line combinations for Tuesday, November 18 vs. Columbus:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Namestnikov-Toews-Perfetti
Niederreiter-Lowry-Iafallo
Pearson-Barron-Nyquist
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Stanley-Schenn
Injured: Haydn Fleury
Healthy Scratches: Miller, Koepke
Comrie