ELMONT, NY – Through different points of the season, the Winnipeg Jets have had to adjust their defensive pairs for a number of reasons – and tonight’s tilt against the New York Islanders (27-26-7) is no different.
The Jets (42-15-4) will be without Dylan Samberg for the opener of a four-game road trip as the 26-year-old attends to a family matter.
“He won’t be in tonight,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “He’ll be flying back here tomorrow.’
With Samberg away from the team, Haydn Fleury will draw back into the line-up alongside Colin Miller. Logan Stanley takes Samberg’s spot alongside Neal Pionk, leaving the pairing of Josh Morrissey and Dylan DeMelo intact.
“Whoever is in that role will obviously step up,” said DeMelo. “Sammy has been a huge part of this team this year. He’s made great strides in all facets of the game. He’s been amazing for us, a rock back there. He’s so steady. We’ll miss him tonight but we have guys that can fill in the spot. We’re confident with the group we’ve got.”
Tonight’s game at UBS Arena offers the Jets a chance to do something they haven’t done since relocation – sweep the season series with the Islanders. Wins never come easy in the National Hockey League, and that has definitely been the case for the Jets on Long Island.
Overall, the Jets have lost four straight in the Islanders’ home rink, but are hoping to change that tonight against an Islanders team that lost 4-0 to the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday.
“They’re fighting for a playoff spot and obviously they lost last night so we expect a really good effort from them tonight,” said DeMelo. “We know this team from playing them over the years. They haven’t changed much stylistically in regards to being a stingy team, a team that’s hard to play against, a team that forechecks well, skates well, and competes really hard. We expect the same.”
Back on February 7, Cole Perfetti’s assist on Nikolaj Ehlers’ second period goal gave the Jets a lead they wouldn’t relinquish in the first meeting with the Islanders. Ultimately, the Jets won that contest by a 4-3 final score, but the Islanders made it difficult for the Jets to generate offence – especially in the third, when New York outshot Winnipeg 19-6.
“They don’t give up much. They have some high-end players. They wait for you to make a mistake and make you pay,” said Perfetti. “We have to be patient tonight. It’s going to be a challenge to get in there and get some quality looks.”
Connor Hellebuyck is expected to get the start in goal, with Winnipeg’s projected line-up looking like this:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Kupari-Iafallo
Morrissey-DeMelo
Stanley-Pionk
Fleury-Miller
The Islanders are five points back of the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference and are 4-6-0 in their last 10 games. When they rolled into Winnipeg just prior to the 4-Nations Face-Off, they had won eight of their past nine games. The loss to the Jets, however, started a four-game skid that included losses to Minnesota, Dallas, and the Rangers.
They rebounded with a couple wins over Nashville and Boston, but a couple costly turnovers on Monday against the Rangers – and a bad bounce on the game’s opening goal from Will Cuylle – put the Isles back in the loss column.
This time of year is desperate times for teams trying to make the playoffs or improve their standing. That urgency is apparent on the ice.
“That has to raise our compete, that has to raise our level. We’re trying to get our game right too,” said DeMelo. “We’ve done a lot of good things. There are things we can clean up too in the last couple games. We just have to continue to stay with our game, continue to push, and continue to elevate in all areas”
Winnipeg’s focus on their own game and their own situation through the season has kept them from thinking too much about their opponent. So Arniel expects the best from his club as they try to strengthen their lead in the Western Conference.
“We’re seeing a lot of these teams that are getting into make or break situations. I like it, it makes us be at our best and forces us to make sure we’re doing everything we need to do to continue to climb - as we want to do,” said Arniel. “We still have our own battle. We still have Dallas, Colorado, and (Minnesota) all sitting there and they’re not going away either. We just continue to take care of our business.”
Puck drop is set for 6:30 pm CT.
