Wednesday night hockey is on upon us tonight in Montreal on Sportsnet, as the Jets conclude their five game road trip. The Jets look to get back in the win column, going 1-4 in their last five games, while the Canadiens are currently on a two game losing streak but 3-2 in their last five. The 13-12-0 Winnipeg Jets and the 13-9-3 Canadiens will battle it out in an all-Canadian matchup at the Bell Centre. The Winnipeg Jets and Montreal Canadiens will not meet again until February 4th in Winnipeg, as the two teams prepare for their first of two matchups this season.

The injury report for the Jets still has three names. Hellebuyck’s timetable to return is still around 3-5 weeks away. Haydn Fleury is almost back from concussion protocol, and Neal Pionk remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury, with his return still unknown, but expected to be soon.

The Canadiens currently have four players (some key players) listed on the injury report that are (mostly) long term. Kirby Dach was the latest name added last week, and Patrik Laine, Alex Newhook and Kaiden Guhle are all out long term.

Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi

Namestnikov – Toews – Perfetti

Niederreiter – Lowry – Iafallo

Pearson – Barron – Nyquist

Morrissey – DeMelo

Samberg – Schenn

Stanley – Miller

Comrie

Milic

The unconfirmed starting goalie is Eric Comrie, who might be making his 11th start of the season. With a rough start against his former team, the Buffalo Sabres, on Monday, this will be a chance for Comrie to re-gain some confidence. After Comrie’s last loss, he’s now down to a 5-5-0 record with a 3.12 GAA and a .892 SV%. The rest of the Jets lineup remains unchanged as of this morning, as they continue to look to build chemistry with more newly formed line combinations. Stay tuned to the Jets official X/Twitter account for any late lineup changes prior to the game.

Caufield – Suzuki – Bolduc

Slafkovsky – Kapanen – Demidov

Texier – Evans – Anderson

Xhekaj – Veleno – Gallagher

Matheson – Dobson

Struble – Hutson

Xhekaj – Carrier

Montembeault

Dobes

The Canadiens lineup is one of the youngest (and most exciting) in the NHL, with an average player age of around 26 years old. Looking at the Canadiens’ player stats through 25 games, their Captain Nick Suzuki leads the way with 30 points. Ten other Canadiens skaters have 10+ points, one of which is Ivan Demidov, who is excelling in his first full season in the NHL with 19 points in 25 games. Sam Montembault is the unconfirmed starting goalie. Montembault has had a pretty below average start to his season, owning a 5-6-1 record with a 3.60 GAA and a .861 SV%. Montembault continues to share the net pretty evenly with Jakob Dobes, so tonight’s game will be another chance for Montembault to show the Canadiens that he’s their number one netminder.

There continues to be a lack of scoring from most Jets forwards lately, but not from Kyle Connor. Despite the Jets depth scoring being almost non existent, the Jets top line has continued to carry the offence as of late, including Connor’s consistent scoring touch. Connor leads the Jets with 2 goals and 3 assists in the last 5 games. Connor’s 30 points in 25 games puts him almost at the pace he was at for most of last season, when he almost became the first Jets 2.0 player to reach 100 points in a regular season. The Jets need some depth scoring if they want to win tonight, but you can count on Connor and the top line to contribute as best they can.

Nick Suzuki is leading on and off the ice this season, and continues to be part of a dynamic duo with Cole Caufield. In 25 games, the Canadiens Captain has scored 8 goals and added 22 assists for 30 points. Suzuki is averaging just over 20 minutes of ice time, so you will likely see him used in several different situations. With a handful of young talented prospects on this Canadiens team, Suzuki is a little under the radar in terms of being an elite two-way forward and 1st line centre that produces at a very consistent rate.

Puck drop in Montreal is set for just after 6:30 pm CT. Jets fans will hopefully be able to celebrate a win tonight as the Jets look to end their road trip with a much needed win. Tonight’s game should be fast paced from puck drop, as these two Canadian teams battle for an important two points. Stay tuned here at Jets Nation for a recap of the action, as the Jets look to avoid falling to 13-13-0 on the season.