The (25-24-6) Winnipeg Jets embark on a two-game road trip starting tonight in Washington against the (28-21-4) Capitals.
TSN 1290's coverage begins with Hustler & Lawless at 4:00. Rick Ralph hosts the official Jets pregame show at 6:00. Colour Analyst Shane Hnidy joins me in the broadcast booth from Verizon Center at 7:00.
Needless to say, this is a huge game, as Winnipeg is four points behind Washington for first place in the Southeast Division. The Jets are five points behind Ottawa for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.
Kyle Wellwood and Tim Stapleton are the notable forwards who will not play tonight. Stapleton, who has missed the last eight games and was injured for seven, is now recovered from injury. However, he has now come down with the flu. Wellwood is battling the flu as well and did not make the trip.
Bryan Little has two goals in his last three games.
The Jets are 2-0 when Chris Thorburn scores a goal.
The Jets are 0/17 in their last seven games on the power play.
Ondrej Pavelec will start in goal.
Jets Projected Lines:
Ladd-Little-Wheeler
Kane-Antropov-Fehr
Glass-Slater-Thorburn
Gagnon-Burmistrov-Miettinen
Enstrom-Byfuglien
Hainsey-Bogosian
Oduya-Stuart
Tomas Vokoun will start his fourth consecutive game in goal for Washington.
Mathieu Perrault and Marcus Johansson are on two-game point streaks (one goal and one assist).
Alex Ovechkin scored two goals Tuesday vs Florida. Those were his first points in three games since returning from a three-game suspension.
Capitals Projected Lines:
Ovechkin-Johansson-Brouwer
Chimera-Perrault-Semin
Hendricks-Halpern-Ward
Beagle-Laich-Aucoin
Alzner-Carlson
Schultz-Wideman
Hamrlik-Orlov
Mike Knuble is a healthy scratch for the first time this season.
The Capitals power-play has also struggled lately with one goal on 18 attempts in their last eight games.
Winnipeg is 1-1-1 against Washington this season and have outscored the Capitals 7-6 in those games.
Following tonight's game, the Jets fly to Pittsburgh and play the Penguins on Saturday afternoon.