Jets to stick with status quo against Rangers

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This article was published 06/11/2016 (3238 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

NEW YORK — There’s lots of things broken on the Winnipeg Jets right now — namely seven regular starters out of the lineup with an assortment of ailments.

But while the current lineup is patched together, it worked just fine Friday night in Detroit, stunning the Red Wings with a 5-3 come from behind victory.

So in the spirit of ‘you should never try to fix what isn’t broken,’ Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice said he will ice the same lineup here Sunday evening when the Jets play the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden in the final game of a three-game road trip through the Eastern Conference.

And it appears that status quo will also include goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who was the first off the ice following the Jets morning skate in New Jersey on Sunday, suggesting he has earned a second start in a row after an especially strong performance in the win in Detroit.

The Rangers are red-hot — winners of nine of their first 12 games — and Maurice says his club might not get away here with a come from behind style that earned them three of a possible four points on this road trip so far.

“You can never turn the puck over, but some teams you can recover from,” Maurice said Sunday morning. “But with the Rangers you can’t. They’ll get up the ice with four guys, they’ve got a lot of lateral passes and the skill to get to the net very quickly.”

The Rangers come into Sunday’s game off a win in Boston Saturday night, while the Jets had a day off in New York on Saturday.

The Rangers are currently first in the Metropolitan Division with a record of 9-3-0, while the Jets are fourth in the Central Division with a record of 5-6-1.

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While MSG is widely regarded as one of the toughest buildings in which to play in the NHL — especially against the red-hot Rangers right now — it’s worth noting the Jets have had a lot of recent success here, winning four of their last five games in Manhattan.

The Jets had their morning skate on Sunday at the Prudential Center — home of the New Jersey Devils — because Madison Square Garden is hosting a New York Knicks game Sunday afternoon in advance of Sunday night’s hockey game.

Maurice said help is on the way from the Jets crowded sick bay, with forward Mathieu Perreault and defencemen Mark Stuart and Tyler Myers all possible to return to the Jets lineup when the Jets return home to face the Dallas Stars on Tuesday.

paul.wiecek@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @PaulWiecek