Saturday night hockey is on tonight in Nashville, as both the Jets and Predators enter tonight’s game on the second half of a back to back. The Jets look to end their 4 game losing streak, while the Predators are currently on a 2 game winning streak. The 12-11-0 Winnipeg Jets are entering game 3 of their current 5 game road trip, and tonight the Central Division last place 8-12-4 Predators are the hosts at Bridgestone Arena. The Winnipeg Jets own the season series between these two teams 1-0, after a 4-1 win in Winnipeg by the Jets on October 18th.

The injury report for the Jets currently has three names. Hellebuyck’s timetable to return is now around 3-5 weeks away. Haydn Fleury remains in concussion protocol. Fleury should be able to return soon, even if it will be as the Jets 7th / 8th defenceman now that the Jets defence is at full health. Neal Pionk remains out with a lower-body injury, with his return currently unknown, but expected to be soon.

The Predators injury report was almost empty, but two new names were added this week. Cole Smith remains out of the lineup on the injured reserve since November 7th. Zachary L’Heureux and Jonathan Marchessault are the other two names listed on the ESPN Predators injury report. L’Heureux is expected to be out for around a month, while Marchessault is day to day with a lower-body injury.

Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi

Pearson – Namestnikov – Perfetti

Niederreiter – Lowry – Iafallo

Barron – Toews – Nyquist

Morrissey – DeMelo

Samberg – Salomonsson

Stanley – Miller

Comrie

Milic

The unconfirmed starting goalie is Eric Comrie, who will very likely be making his 9th start of the season. With Thomas Milic making his NHL debut last night, this with be a chance for Comrie to end his own losing streak of three games. After Comrie’s last loss, he’s now down to a 4-4-0 record with a 3.02 GAA and a .897 SV%. The rest of the Jets lineup remains unchanged, as they continue to look to build chemistry with these newly formed combinations.

Stamkos – O’Reilly – Evangelista

Forsberg – Haula – Wood

Bunting – McCarron – Wiesblatt

Schaefer – Svechkov – Jost

Hague – Josi

Skjei – Perbix

Stastney – Blakenburg

Annunen

Saros

The Predators lineup on paper features a mix of young(ish) prospects and veterans who may be on the trade block if the Predators can’t turn their season around. Looking at the Predators’ player stats through 24 games, every line has contributed somewhat, with Ryan O’Reilly leading the way with 18 points. Five other Predators skaters have 10+ points, one of which is not Steven Stamkos, who has struggled this season with only 9 points in 24 games. Justus Annunen is the unconfirmed starting goalie. Annunen has had a rough start to his season, owning a 1-3-1 record with a 3.89 GAA and a .850 SV%. Saros starts the majority of games for the Predators, so tonight’s game will be a big test for Annunen with the the rest of the team playing last night.

There’s not too many forwards that have been on a roll lately for the Jets, but one of them has been Mark Scheifele. Despite the Jets struggling to score, the Jets top line has carried the offence as of late, including Scheifele’s consistent play. Scheifele now leads the Jets with 13 goals, and is tied with Kyle Connor for the team lead in assists with 17. Scheifele’s 30 points in 23 games puts him right around the pace he was at for most of last season. If the Jets want to end their losing streak it will take a full team effort, but look for Scheifele and the top line to continue to generate scoring chances whenever they are on the ice.

Despite only playing 12 games this season, Josi has made his impact felt since returning to the Predators lineup. In those 12 games, the Predators Captain has scored 2 goals and added 5 assists for 7 points. Josi is averaging over 23 minutes of ice time, so you will see him tonight in all different situations. With a few new elite defenders emerging around the league in the past few seasons, Josi has gone a little under the radar, but make no mistake, he’s still a consistent, premier defender that can do it all.

Puck drop in Nashville is set for just after 6:00 pm CT. Jets fans will hopefully be able to celebrate a win tonight as the Jets look to finally end their current losing streak of 4 games. Tonight’s game might start a little slow with both teams playing last night, but there’s always some level of excitement when these two Central Division opponents face off. Stay tuned here at Jets Nation for a recap of the action, as the Jets look to improve to 13-11-0 on the season.