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Winnipeg Jets (17-10-7) at Chicago Blackhawks (23-9-2) 7:30PM Central TSN3, CSN-CH+
THE BUZZ
The Hawks face a much improved Jets club, evidenced not just by their record, but an earlier shutout loss to Winnipeg this season. Dustin Byfuglien is back at defense, after seeing some time earlier this season at forward. Other former Hawks Andrew Ladd and Michal Frolik are helping lead the resurgence of the Jets. Another factor is solid goaltending from the tandem of Ondrej Pavelec and Michal Hutchinson. This game is far from a gimme. However, the Hawks are playing outstanding hockey, having overtaken Nashville and St. Louis for the Central Division lead after a somewhat slow start to the season.
THE NUMBERS
Power Play Winnipeg 24th, 15.0% Chicago 17th, 18.0%
Penalty Kill Winnipeg 8th, 84.8% Chicago 1st, 91.6%
THE LINEUPS (PROJECTED)
Winnipeg
Ladd Little Wheeler Perreault Scheifele Frolik Kane Lowry Halischuk Thorburn Slater Peluso
Chiarot Byfuglien Harrison Clitsome Pardy Postma
Hutchinson
Chicago
Saad Toews Hossa Versteeg Sharp Kane Carcillo Shaw Bickell Nordstrom Kruger Smith
Keith Seabrook Oduya Hjalmarsson Rundblad Rozsival
Crawford
All for now, I’ll have a recap tomorrow.
JJ
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