Winnipeg Jets at Carolina Hurricanes: Lines and Game Discussion

The Carolina Hurricanes sit in a playoff position once again with the chance to distance themselves from the Blue Jackets and the Panthers. After losing, five straight the Canes turned it around with wins over the Philadelphia Flyers and New Jersey Devils to extend their point streak to three games.

Since Jordan Staal returned to the lineup, the Canes have looked like a team that can fight for the playoff, not the team that lost five straight. Over the past few seasons there is always a lot of talk that Staal isn’t a top line center, but when he is out of the lineup we see the value he brings to the team.

Cam Ward will get the start again after staring in both games in the back-to-back series. It looks that he will be the workhorse for Bill Peters down the stretch.

The lines are unchanged from the last game, which still leaves Jeff Skinner on the third line in favor of Brock McGinn playing in the top six with Jordan Staal and Justin Williams.

Here’s how the Canes will line up;

Brock McGinn - Jordan Staal - Justin Williams

Sebastian Aho - Elias Lindholm - Teuvo Teravainen

Jeff Skinner - Lucas Wallmark - Phil Di Giuseppe

Victor Rask - Derek Ryan - Lee Stempniak

Jaccob Slavin - Justin Faulk

Noah Hanifin - Brett Pesce

Haydn Fleury - Trevor van Riemsdyk

Cam Ward

Scott Darling

The Jets are coming off of a win against the Red Wings on Friday. They now come to PNC in a classic Southeast Division matchup. The Jets had one of the biggest scores at the trade deadline when they acquired Paul Stastny. This trade gives the Jets one of the best lineups down the center with Mark Scheifele, Bryan Little, and Stastny as their top three centermen.

Starting goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has struggled as of late, allowing three or more goals in four of his past five games. The Jets are also shorthanded thanks to some injuries, detailed in this morning’s Illegal Curve morning skate report. Goaltender Steve Mason has been assigned to the AHL for a conditioning stint as he is coming back from a concussion. Defenseman Toby Enstrom missed his second game in a row on Friday after being injured in practice on Monday. He is still day-to-day with a lower-body injury. Jacob Trouba, Adam Lowry, Shawn Matthias and Brandon Tanev are also on the shelf for the Jets.

Projected lineup:

Kyle Connor - Mark Scheifele - Blake Wheeler

Mathieu Perreault - Bryan Little - Jack Roslovic

Nikolaj Ehlers - Paul Stastny - Patrik Laine

Matt Hendricks - Andrew Copp - Joel Arrnia

Josh Morrissey - Dustin Byfuglien

Dmitry Kulikov - Tyler Myers

Joe Morrow - Ben Chiarot

Connor Hellebuyck

Michael Hutchinson