JNGD.S8.G40 Flight Plan: Jets Hoping to Start 2019 With a Victory Against the Pens
By KB
5 years agoThe Winnipeg Jets are hoping to ring in the New Year with a victory as they take on a surging Penguins team. It will be the second game without Byfuglien after he went down with an injury against the Minnesota Wild last week. The loss of Byfuglien will be magnified tonight as the Jets take on a strong Pittsburgh lineup that is currently on a seven game winning streak.
Winnipeg Jets (25-12-2)
@
Pittsburgh Penguins (22-12-6)
January 4, 2019 – Puck drop: 6:00 PM CST
PPG Paints Arena – Pittsburgh, PA
TV: TSN 3 – Radio: TSN 1290
 |  |  |
| VS EDM: 4-3 WIN | Last Game | VS NYR: 7-2 WIN |
| 3-2-0 (1 W) | Last 5 Games | 5-0-0 (5 W) |
| PATRIK LAINE – 24 | Goal Leader | SYDNEY CROSBY – 19 |
| BLAKE WHEELER – 44 | Assist Leader | SYDNEY CROSBY – 31 |
| BLAKE WHEELER – 50 | Points Leader | SYDNEY CROSBY – 50 |
| 28.10% (2ND) | The Power Play | 27.00% (5TH) |
| 81.40% (10TH) | The Penalty Kill | 83.90% (4TH) |
| CONNOR HELLEBUYCK (17-11-1 / .908 SV%) | Starting Goalie | MATT MURRAY (10-5-1 / .908 SV%) |
| W VS EDM (21-24 / .875 SV%) | Last Goalie Start | W VS NYR (28-30) / (.933 SV%) |
| 12-6-0 ON ROAD | Road v Home Record | 11-7-2 AT HOME |
Penguins Player To Watch
#81 Phil Kessel – Right Wing
Kessel is currently second on the team in all three scoring categories, goals (17), assists (29), and points (46). It’s been a strong season for the 31 year old sniper and he’s been lights out since the holiday break. He’s scored nine points in his last four games including three straight games with three points each. He was held pointless against the Rangers on Wednesday, but with his recent performance, he will be the player that Winnipeg has to watch out for.
| Scor | Scor | Scor | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Tm | Opp | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | S | S% | SHFT | TOI | ||
| 2019-01-02 | PIT | @ | NYR | W | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 19 | 17:03 |
| 2018-12-31 | PIT | @ | MIN | W | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 25.0 | 18 | 14:56 |
| 2018-12-29 | PIT | @ | STL | W | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.0 | 23 | 17:36 |
| 2018-12-27 | PIT | DET | W | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 50.0 | 19 | 15:34 | |
| 2018-12-22 | PIT | @ | CAR | W | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0.0 | 17 | 11:57 |
Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original Table
Last Penguins Game
It took Pittsburgh nearly 30 minutes to get their first goal, but once they did, they were off and running. They lit up Lundqvist for four goals in the second period alone before chasing him from the net after their sixth goal of the game.
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Penguins Notes
- The Pens are the hottest team in the league right now as they currently are on a seven game winning streak.
- Much of this winning streak has to do with the great goaltending of Matt Murray who has been great since returning from an ‘injury’ earlier this season.
- From pensburgh.com: Sidney Crosby autographs stick for Rangers fan who chirped him
- From Bleacherreport.com: Penguins sign Jake Guentzel to 5-year extension
Jets Player To Watch
#26 Blake Wheeler – Right Wing
Although Wheeler has two points in his last three games, it feels that he hasn’t been up to par recently. With 50 points in only 39 games so far, Wheeler is on pace for his highest point total of his career. Even though the season has been solid, the top line is in need of a boost. Last season the Jets were 4-3-2 when they faced the Penguins at Bell MTS Place on October 29. It could be argued that it was the turning point in the season as Wheeler led the offensive outburst with a hat-trick, his first in nearly a decade. The Jets rattled a 9-2-1 record in their next 12 games and never looked back.
Wheeler is the player to watch as the top line has struggled in the past few games. Hopefully he can get them back on track in this one.
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Last Jets Game
With a snazzy heritage jersey on their back, the Jets were able to beat the Oilers in a back and forth affair. The Oilers struck first as McDavid did his usual thing against Trouba. Trouba got turned and burned by McDavid’s speed who then made a nice pass to Nugent-Hopkins. The Jets scored a couple of goals in response before Edmonton tied it later in the second period. The Jets took the lead again heading into the third but Edmonton scored another tying goal. With the game knotted at three, Lemieux was able to tip a point shot past Koskinen for his second of the game, and more importantly, the winning goal.
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Jets Notes
- This will be the second game without Dustin Byfuglien in the lineup. In case you missed it, he’s out for at least a month with a lower body injury.
- Brendan Lemieux is coming off his first career multi goal game. He scored the go ahead goal in the second period and then after the Oilers tied it, he scored the winning goal of a nice tip in front of the net.
- From CBC: Jets to play Flames in outdoor NHL game at Regina’s Mosaic Stadium in 2019
- With the recent news of the New York Jets football team firing their coach, it prompted some people to only read headlines and assume Maurice was on the chopping block. This is definitely not the case, but make sure you are reading about the right team before jumping to conclusions…
Be sure to check out our Twitter feed for any late mid-day updates to the game lineups!
You can also get up to the minute lineup combos for the Jets
including power play and penalty kill lines by checking out our line combo page.
You can also get up to the minute lineup combos for the Jets
including power play and penalty kill lines by checking out our line combo page.
Pittsburgh Penguins Lines
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 JAKE GUENTZEL Rating: 80.3#9 LW |  SIDNEY CROSBY Rating: 88.7#2 C |  BRYAN RUST Rating: 76.7#28 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 81.90#2 FL1 |
 DOMINIK SIMON Rating: 70.2#108 LW |  EVGENI MALKIN Rating: 81.3#13 C |  PATRIC HORNQVIST Rating: 78.3#17 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 76.60#6 FL2 |
 TANNER PEARSON Rating: 72.5#69 LW |  DERICK BRASSARD Rating: 72.4#102 C |  PHIL KESSEL Rating: 77.7#22 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 74.17#5 FL3 |
 ZACH ASTON-REESE Rating: 72.6#67 LW |  MATT CULLEN Rating: 68.9#180 C |  RILEY SHEAHAN Rating: 68.5#117 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.01#22 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 BRIAN DUMOULIN Rating: 75.0#25 LD |  KRIS LETANG Rating: 83.2#3 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 79.14#2 DL1 |
 OLLI MAATTA Rating: 72.7#55 LD |  JUUSO RIIKOLA Rating: 71.7#74 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 72.21#20 DL2 |
 MARCUS PETTERSSON Rating: 70.4#112 LD |  JACK JOHNSON Rating: 70.8#99 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 70.58#24 DL3 |
| GOALIES | |
|---|---|
 MATT MURRAY Rating: 72.3#31 G1 |  CASEY DESMITH Rating: 75.7#15 G2 |
Winnipeg Jets Lines
| LW | C | RW | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
 NIKOLAJ EHLERS Rating: 77.9#17 LW |  MARK SCHEIFELE Rating: 86.2#4 C |  BLAKE WHEELER Rating: 80.4#9 RW | FL1 Rating Rating: 81.47#3 FL1 |
 KYLE CONNOR Rating: 75.8#28 LW |  BRYAN LITTLE Rating: 72.8#90 C |  PATRIK LAINE Rating: 80.3#10 RW | FL2 Rating Rating: 76.29#7 FL2 |
 MATHIEU PERREAULT Rating: 72.7#94 LW |  ADAM LOWRY Rating: 73.8#63 C |  BRANDON TANEV Rating: 70.4#97 RW | FL3 Rating Rating: 72.29#13 FL3 |
 ANDREW COPP Rating: 71.6#83 LW |  JACK ROSLOVIC Rating: 69.3#176 C |  BRENDAN LEMIEUX Rating: 72.0#75 RW | FL4 Rating Rating: 70.97#14 FL4 |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | Defense | |
|---|---|---|
 JOSH MORRISSEY Rating: 74.4#29 LD |  JACOB TROUBA Rating: 76.4#24 RD | DL1 Rating Rating: 75.36#14 DL1 |
 BEN CHIAROT Rating: 70.6#106 LD |  JOE MORROW Rating: 71.0#77 RD | DL2 Rating Rating: 70.82#29 DL2 |
 DMITRY KULIKOV Rating: 70.3#114 LD |  TYLER MYERS Rating: 74.3#33 RD | DL3 Rating Rating: 72.31#9 DL3 |
| GOALIES | |
|---|---|
 CONNOR HELLEBUYCK Rating: 75.1#17 G1 |  LAURENT BROSSOIT Rating: 66.2#64 G2 |
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