Scheifele out, Penguins look to keep rolling at Jets
By Nate Temple
The Pittsburgh Penguins reside in Winnipeg tonight (8:00 p.m. ET, ROOT, TSN3) to face the Jets—who will be without center Mark Scheifele—one night after defeating the Minnesota Wild 3-1.
The Pittsburgh Penguins will be trying to extend their winning streak to three games tonight, and if they accomplish the feat, then it will be just the second time they mastered it (first one was Oct.31-Nov. 6).
In his first game back from an undisclosed injury, defenseman Kris Letang received a blow to his head from Minnesota Wild forward Jarret Stoll early in the third period. After clearing the concussion protocol and returning to the game, Letang will suit up tonight to face Winnipeg’s top line of Drew Stafford, Bryan Little, and Blake Wheeler.
Sidney Crosby also played in his first game back after a one game absence with a lower-body injury. Crosby recorded a goal and an assist last night, and he will be looking to build off of the strong performance.
The Winnipeg Jets (15-7-2, 32 points) will be without the services of center Mark Scheifele after he sustained a concussion when he and teammate Andrew Ladd collided at practice on Saturday. Scheifele (12 goals, 22 points) was placed on injured reserve and recalled Adam Lowry from the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League. According to head coach Paul Maurice, they are preparing for an extended absence from their fourth leading scorer.
"He sustained a concussion yesterday." Maurice on Scheifele. "This is not one he's coming back from until he's 100 percent."
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) December 27, 2015
Here are the projected starting lineups, according to NHL.com Correspondent Patrick Williams:
Winnipeg Jets
Forwards
Drew Stafford – Bryan Little – Blake Wheeler
Andrew Ladd – Adam Lowry – Alexander Burmistrov
Chris Thorburn – Mathieu Perreault – Nikolaj Ehlers
Joel Armia – Andrew Copp – Matt Halischuk
Defense
Jacob Trouba – Dustin Byfuglien
Goaltenders
Dec 21, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman
(6) and center
(71) celebrate a goal by Malkin against the Columbus Blue Jackets during the second period at the CONSOL Energy Center. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports
Pittsburgh Penguins
Forwards
Chris Kunitz – Sidney Crosby – David Perron
Conor Sheary – Evgeni Malkin – Patric Hornqvist
Scott Wilson – Nick Bonino – Phil Kessel
Kevin Porter – Matt Cullen – Eric Fehr
Defense
Olli Maatta – Kris Letang
Trevor Daley – Ian Cole
Goaltenders
Matthew Murray
Tonight’s Goaltending Matchup
Head coach Paul Maurice tabbed rookie Connor Hellebuyck as the starter for Winnipeg tonight. Hellebuyck was called up from Manitoba after starter Ondrej Pavelec suffered a lower-body injury on November 21 against the Arizona Coyotes that landed him on injured reserve.
In his eight game NHL career, the Commerce, MI native is 5-3 with a 2.41 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage. After winning his first three career starts and giving up only one goal in each game, Hellebuyck has struggled of late only winning two of his last five starts.
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In addition to his struggles, he did not survive the entire game in his last outing against the Edmonton Oilers after giving up three goals on 14 shots and being pulled at 7:44 of the second period when defenseman Justin Schultz dented the twine for Edmonton’s third goal.
The Penguins did not hold a morning skate this morning. If Matt Murray gets the nod, it will be his third consecutive start. His last outing was a 3-1 winning decision last night against the Minnesota. If it’s not him, Jeff Zatkoff will get the start. He is 2-3-1 with a 2.94 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage.
Zatkoff finds himself in the same situation as Hellebuyck as Zatkoff is 0-3-1 in his last four starts. In his last outing against the Boston Bruins, he surrendered six goals on 34 shots. Regardless of who starts, it will be their first career start against the Jets.
Players to watch
Blake Wheeler holds a four-game point streak (0G, 7A) for the Winnipeg Jets. Kris Letang has registered 19 points (3G, 16A) in 23 games lifetime versus Winnipeg.
Keys to the game
Discipline
Unlike the Minnesota Wild, the Winnipeg Jets are the third most penalized team in the league. If they stick to their game plan, the Jets will become irritated and take unnecessary penalties that put the Penguins on the man advantage.
Physicality
Winnipeg plays a heavy, physical game with a relentless forecheck to disrupt opponents. The Penguins will have to counter that with physicality of their own and making a clean first pass to break out of their own zone.
Legs
In back-to-back situations, the team playing in those situations tend to not have the freshest of legs in the latter portion. However, after listening to many interviews from various teams, it seems that the mental approach is what dictates their game.
Next: Penguins complete season sweep of Wild
If they are mentally strong and not worry about playing two games in as many nights, then they will be fine.