Washington Capitals at Winnipeg Jets

Scott Arniel wasn’t in much of sharing mood this morning. And so there’s plenty of mystery surrounding tonight’s Winnipeg Jets lineup — specifically when it comes to the starting goaltender.

Connor Hellebuyck making his return from injury? Dom DiVincentiis making his NHL debut? Eric Comrie making his 13th start in 14 games? The bench boss wasn’t biting.

“You guys guess,” is all Arniel would offer up.

Sure thing. All signs seem to be pointing to Hellebuyck, including the fact he took the bulk of the shots during Friday’s practice and then went through what looked like his usual game-day starting routine during an optional morning skate. If he’s in the net, it will be three weeks to the day since he underwent arthroscopic knee surgery — and not a moment too soon for a Jets team that has gone just 2-9-1 in his absence.

“He is hungry to get back at it and whenever that is, we know what type of player he is and what he brings to this team,” said Jets forward Kyle Connor. “So it’s going to be awesome.”

The Jets have lost three straight games, including the first two on this four-game homestand. They’ll face another tough test tonight in the Washington Capitals, who arrive in town with points in nine straight games (7-0-2). That run includes a 4-3 victory over the Jets on Nov. 26 in D.C.

“Obviously they’re one of the top teams in the East. They’re playing at a very high level, getting through some injuries that they’ve had as well. Getting their team back in place,” said Arniel. “We played a real good game down there. You have to be at your best against a team like that.”

Might other lineup changes be coming for the Jets? Defencemen Colin Miller and Haydn Fleury and forward Tanner Pearson were the healthy scratches in Thursday’s 6-3 loss to Boston, and the trio were the only ones who skated this morning. That would seem to indicate they’re likely out again.

Veteran Jets forward Nino Niederreiter will play his 1,000th regular season game, becoming the first Swiss player in history to reach that milestone. He will be honoured in a pre-game ceremony, with plenty of family and friends from overseas in attendance.

“It gets everyone laughing and smiling in the room and just having him share good memories of his journey is maybe a spark for us,” said defenceman Neal Pionk. “It’s pretty cool. I think he scored his first NHL goal against Washington, too.”

Washington will go with No. 1 netminder Logan Thompson, who is in line to crack the Canadian Olympic team after being excluded from the 4 Nations Face Off.

Here’s some other information to get you set.

—Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe

FROM THE PRESS BOX

MIKE SAYS: The Manitoba Moose had another big night Friday, skating to a 6-1 win over the Iowa Wild. No question the vibes are good right now on the farm, with the club on a nice roll leading to a 14-9-2 record.

Why do I bring this up? Because there is no shortage of players likely champing at the bit to prove their worth at the NHL level, especially on a Jets that seems to be going nowhere fast. And yet, opportunity hasn’t come knocking for the likes of forwards David Gutafsson, Walker Duehr, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Samuel Fagemo, Danny Zhilkin, Mason Shaw, Phil Di Giuseppe or Brayden Yager or defencemen Kale Clauge and Ville Heinola.

There’s also the talented AHL trio of forwards Brad Lambert, Parker Ford and Nikita Chibrikov who got brief looks with the Jets earlier this year, along with defenceman Elias Salomonsson.

So what’s the hold-up? Why isn’t a team that currently sits tied for 29th in the NHL standings giving any of these guys a chance? It would appear management is reluctant to clear roster spots by putting anyone on waivers at this time. That’s unfortunate.

Whether it’s current healthy scratches like Pearson or Miller or the ice-cold Gustav Nyquist, there’s an argument to be made that some change should be in the air. Would any of them be claimed should they hit the waiver wire? Possibly, but not likely. But all three are pending unrestricted free agents next summer with no deep roots to the Jets. They are not drafted-and-developed guys, and it might be time to make some tough decisions.

Simply shuffling around the same deck of cards clearly isn’t working.

As for tonight’s game, the Capitals get their defencemen involved in the rush as much as any team in the league, and they burned the Jets last month as John Carlson and Jakob Chychrun both scored big goals. The Jets will need to do a better job of bottling that up if they are to have a chance.

KEN SAYS: The initial timeline for Hellebuyck’s recovery was four-to-six weeks, so a return tonight would put him significantly ahead of schedule. The reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winner has been working hard on and off the ice to push himself to get back as quickly as possible and provided he gets the green light, there’s no doubt he could supply a much-needed spark for a Jets team that is in the middle of a funk.

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck Hellebuyck made his last start on Nov. 15. (Matt Krohn / The Associated Press files)

“He has been pretty healthy throughout his career. So we don’t have a baseline on how to look back when his body is recovering from something,” said Connor. “I just know, as soon as he was injured, he flipped that script like this is the next challenge, like a lot of us do. He is getting great treatment, along with his great habits and doing everything he can to get back as quick as possible. Not a shock that it is on the early side of it.”

As Arniel pointed out on multiple occasions during the past week, it won’t matter who is in goal for the Jets if they don’t tighten things up defensively.

On the other side of the coin, the Jets are still searching for some solutions when it comes to lines two through four.

Cole Koepke had another strong outing — notching an assist to give him four points in his past four games — while skating alongside Adam Lowry. Koepke’s speed allowed him to get in on the forecheck and that translated to five shots on goal and 10 shot attempts. At a time when the Jets are looking for some additional secondary scoring, Koepke is doing his part.

Honourary Manitoban Tom Wilson — he’s married to Winnipegger Taylor Pischke — currently leads the Capitals in both goals (17) and points (32), though Alex Ovechkin is in hot pursuit on both fronts. Wilson is very much in the mix for a spot on the Canadian men’s Olympic team and he makes an impact on all facets of the game, averaging just under 20 minutes of ice time while contributing to the power play, the penalty kill, at even strength and providing a physical presence.

PROJECTED LINES

WINNIPEG JETS

FORWARDS:

Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
Barron-Toews-Vilardi
Niederreiter-Namestnikov-Nyquist
Perfetti-Lowry-Koepke

DEFENCE:

Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Stanley-Schenn

GOAL:

Hellebuyck
Comrie

HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Miller, D Fleury, F Pearson

INJURED: None

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

FORWARDS:

Ovechkin-Strome-McMichael
Protas-Sourdif-Wilson
Beauvillier-Dowd-Frank
Duhaime-Lapierre-Trineyev

DEFENCE:

Fehervary-Carlson
Chychrun-Roy
Sandin-Van Riemsdyk

GOAL:

Thompson
Bjorklund

HEALTHY SCRATCHES: F Milano, D Chisholm, D McIlrath

INJURED: C Dubois (abdominal), F Leonard (shoulder), G Lindgren (upper-body)

NOTABLE QUOTABLE

Jets winger Kyle Connor on the hole his team has put itself in – and how to try and find a way out:

“It is part of the job to focus on what we can control in that aspect. How you show up to the rink and how you prepare yourself. You gotta have your best foot forward. At the same time, you do have one eye on the big picture and realize the sense of urgency that needs to happen.”