The Jets activated Tobias Enstrom from injured reserved which means that Ben Chiarot and Tucker Poolman are going to be sat and likely that Poolman will be assigned back to the Moose. The expected pairings today on the blue line against San Jose are:
Morrissey Trouba Enstrom Buff Kulikov Myers
The last time these two teams faced each other it was a 4-0 blanking for the Sharks in a game where a hot goalie kept the Jets off the score sheet and perhaps a mediocre performance allowed San Jose to get on it. Regardless though it was not a bad game for the Jets by the numbers but the results were far from ideal.
Today is a chance for redemption but it won't come easy agains the Sharks, a team that has often given the Jets more headaches than rewards. What will be interesting is the minutes that go amongst the defence. Last game Dustin Byfuglien played less than his usual 20 plus minutes a night and as many noticed he was less than happy about being sat on the bench during the final minutes of the game.
Here's what Mike Mcintyre had from Paul Maurice about the situation:
And here's what #NHLJets coach Paul Maurice had to say today about how he used Dustin Byfuglien last night, the veteran defencemen not being happy about it, and how he'll be used going forward. #wfp pic.twitter.com/dFRMeqHGmX
— Mike McIntyre (@mikemcintyrewpg) January 6, 2018
The interesting thing about those comments was Maurice revealing that he's had conversations with all D about TOI and getting more. That's tough when you run a group of six where the bottom 4 are interchangeable in terms of skill and roles. While not identical players by any stretch there are times when Maurice, as he said in the quotes, will use certain pairs more based on who they play and situations.
Being well under 20 minutes must have felt odd for Buff who led the league in ice time, and average TOI/game last season. This is a good problem to have for a coach but one that must be handled delicately and based on what McIntyre had from Maurice it appears the coach is well aware of the issues- how he handles this going forward will be interesting.
As for the forward group there are no expected changes today and Jack Roslovic will be watching the game again while Matthias and Dano play with Hendricks on the 4th line.
What the Jets have to consider now for this game is how they use the top line against the Sharks who with Pavelski and Thornton are deep and large down the middle. While Blake Wheeler is not one to shy away from physical play how he matches up against these two guys playing centre could be interesting to watch and it will be interesting to see how Maurice deploys the top line.
Hellebuyck gets the start again.