Jets expected to be part of NHL’s showcase games in Finland next season

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This article was published 25/01/2018 (2787 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

ANAHEIM, Calif. — While the main focus for players is trying to wrap up another big road win tonight, you might excuse some fans for looking a bit ahead at some excitement to come.

The National Hockey League is on the verge of confirming the Winnipeg Jets will take part in their next Global Series, which will involve playing a pair of regular-season games in Finland during the 2018-19 campaign.

The official announcement will likely come on Saturday from commissioner Gary Bettman during his state-of- the-league address during the All-Star festivities in Tampa Bay, according to a source. Jets chairman and co-owner Mark Chipman will speak once the league has confirmed.

Winnipeg’s opponent in Finland is expected to be the Carolina Hurricanes. Each team would be playing one of their 41 home games and one of their 41 road games as part of the series. That would give Finnish fans plenty of homegrown talents to cheer including, Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine and Joel Armia, and Carolina’s Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen.

Back in southern California, the Jets (29-13-7) are looking to head into the brief All-Star break by winning a fourth-straight game tonight. They’ll be in tough tonight against a Ducks team that is back to full health and flying high lately at 23-17-9, including 3-1-0 on their current five-game homestand.

“They did a marvellous job surviving with key pieces out of the lineup. They got beat up by injuries, especially at the centre ice position. So now they’re back full-force and they got it spread around four lines and they’ve played some pretty dominant hockey since they’ve gotten healthy. So we’ll expect that tonight,” said Jets coach Paul Maurice.

Defenceman Dmitry Kulikov will not play after taking a big hit from behind during a 5-4 overtime win on Tuesday in San Jose. Ben Chiarot will take his place in the lineup and on a pairing with Tyler Myers. Kulikov hasn’t been diagnosed with a concussion.

“Not with him yet. So it hasn’t been, for me, called that yet. So he has to get tested and he has to wait a couple days to see where the symptoms are at,” said Maurice. “Whenever we’ve had a player who’s had a concussion I’ve fired that out.”

Toby Enstrom, who missed Wednesday’s practice, is good to go, according to Maurice.

Following tonight’s game, the Jets will play 20 of their final 32 regular-season games on home ice at Bell MTS Place. That includes a 10-game homestand that begins next Tuesday. No other team has played as many road games as Winnipeg.

“We’ve been a lot on the road. We’re playing almost all February at home. It’s nice to finish the road trip in Anaheim today and hopefully get a win,” Laine said following the optional morning skate. “They’re at their best lineup. They’re healthy. It’s going to be a challenge for sure.”

Connor Hellebuyck gets the start in net for Winnipeg. Unlike most of his teammates, he won’t have a three-day break coming up. Hellebuyck and captain Blake Wheeler will make the trip to Tampa Bay to represent the Jets at the All-Star game.

Rookie Jack Roslovic will start the game on the top line with Laine and Wheeler. Kyle Connor has been bumped down to the fourth line with Matt Hendricks and Marko Dano.

“I think (Roslovic) has a lot of skill. He’s really fast. He can make quick decisions with the puck. Hopefully we can get a little bit more o-zone time than last game. That’s our line’s game and where we’re at our best,” said Laine, who will shift from the right side to the left side to make room for Roslovic.

PROJECTED JETS LINEUP:

FORWARDS:

Laine-Wheeler-Roslovic

Perreault-Little-Ehlers

Tanev-Copp-Armia

Connor-Hendricks-Dano

DEFENCE:

Morrissey-Trouba

Enstrom-Byfuglien

Chiarot-Myers

GOAL:

Hellebuyck

Hutchinson

SCRATCHES: Scheifele (injured), Lowry (injured), Matthias (injured), Lemieux (healthy), Kulikov (injured), Poolman (healthy), Mason (injured)

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg