The Pittsburgh Penguins head back on the road, and look to rebound from their 5-2 loss at the hands of the Toronto Maple Leafs in Winnipeg tonight as they take on the Jets. The Jets last played on January 22, defeating the Washington Capitals 4-2 in D.C.
When and where: MTS Centre (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada); 8:00 p.m. et (ROOT Sports, TSN)
Season records: Penguins (2-1-0; 4 pts.); Jets (1-1-1; 3 pts.)
Season series: First meeting of the season
Last meeting: March 20, 2012 marked the last time the Penguins and Jets met up. That night the Penguins’ offense exploded for eight goals in an 8-4 victory. Evgeni Malkin topped scorers with five points, including two goals and three assists. James Neal added a hat trick, and Brad Thiessen was the beneficiary of the offensive outburst to get the win. Bryan Little chipped in two goals for the Jets, and Andrew Ladd added two assists.
Key matchups:
1. Olli Jokinen and Nik Antropov: Filed under “Penguin killers,” are Olli Jokinen and Nik Antropov. First off Jokinen, in forty three career games against the Penguins, he has thirty-six points (18 goals, 18 assists). The thirty-four year old Finnish forward’s point total also includes two hat tricks. In regards to Antropov, he has thirty-one points (13 goals, 18 assists) in thirty-five career games against Pittsburgh. (Via hockey-reference.com)
Injuries:
Penguins: None
Jets: D Zach Bogosian, RW Antti Miettinen
Former Penguins alert: LW Alexei Ponikarovsky, RW Chris Thorburn
Additional notes:
1. This will be Sidney Crosby’s first game in Winnipeg.
2. Tanner Glass will be returning to Winnipeg for the first time since playing for the Jets during the 2011-2012 season.
3. As noted below, the Penguins have decided to make a change to the lineup. It looks like Tyler Kennedy will be moved up to the second line with Malkin and Neal. Eric Tangradi will be demoted to the fourth line, and Glass will join the third line with Matt Cooke and Brandon Sutter.
Projected lineups:
Penguins
Chris Kunitz-Sidney Crosby-Pascal Dupuis
Tyler Kennedy-Evgeni Malkin-James Neal
Matt Cooke-Brandon Sutter-Tanner Glass
Eric Tangradi-Joe Vitale-Craig Adams
Brooks Orpik-Paul Martin
Matt Niskanen-Kris Letang
Deryk Engelland-Ben Lovejoy
Tomas Vokoun
Jets (via penguins.nhl.com)
Andrew Ladd-Nik Antropov-Bryan Little
Evander Kane-Olli Jokinen-Blake Wheeler
Alexei Ponikarovsky-Alexander Burmistrov-Kyle Wellwood
James Wright-Jim Slater-Chris Thorburn
Tobias Enstrom-Dustin Byfuglien
Mark Stuart-Ron Hainsey
Grant Clitsome-Paul Postma
Ondrej Pavelec
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