Winnipeg Jets at Florida Panthers - Game 50 Preview

Florida:23-15-11 (57PTS)
Winnipeg: 24-22-6 (54PTS)
Season Series: 2-0-1
Game Time: 7:30 PM EST
Television: Fox Sports Florida, TSN-Jets
Radio: 560 WQAM

The Winnipeg Jets visit Sunrise in the second of three Southeast Division games for the Panthers this week. The top of the division is tight, with only three points separating first place Florida from third place Winnipeg. The Panthers and Jets have the worst last ten games record (3-3-4 and 4-5-1, respectively) in the Southeast, but Washington's last loss came via the Panthers. The Cats, as always, will try to put some distance between themselves and the rest of the division this weekend. The road team has won every game in the season season, including two in the shootout, but the Panthers have one statistic in their favor this evening: The Jets are 0-8 this season in the second of back-to-back games.

More from our Winnipeg cohorts at Arctic Ice Hockey.
Jets vs Panthers coverage at SB Nation.
Illegal Curve Preview.
LBC Game Thread will open 30 minutes prior to puck drop.

News and Notes

Last meeting

Mikael Samuelsson had the game winner in the shootout as the Panthers beat the Jets in Winnipeg 4-3 in late January.

Last game

The Panthers beat the Caps 4-2 on Wednesday night at home. Mikael Samuelsson had two goals, Stephen Weiss the game winner and Shawn Matthias the empty net goal to seal the victory. Scott Clemmensen made 24 saves in the win.

Lineup

Scottie Upshall had successful surgery yesterday for a sports hernia. He previously tried to rehab it without surgery, but that didn't work. He will miss another six to eight weeks. Marco Sturm returned from a concussion on Wednesday, playing 12:06 and getting 2 shots. He will rest tonight as Kris Versteeg returns from a nasty bout with the flu. His conditioning may be off as he hasn't skated for eight days. He will probably start on the first line, but may move down during the game if he has trouble keeping up or taking a lot of shifts.

Injuries

• F Scottie Upshall (core), 2/1, 6 to 8 weeks
• G Jacob Markstrom (knee), 1/7, 4 to 6 weeks
• D Ed Jovanovski (hand), 1/16, week to week
• D Dmitry Kulikov (knee), 1/21, 6 to 8 weeks
• G Jose Theodore (knee), 2/1, unknown

Possible Scratches

• F Marco Sturm
• F Jack Skille

Starting goaltenders:

Scott Clemmensen will face off against Chris Mason.

Lines

Forwards

1. Fleischmann-Weiss-Versteeg
2. Samuelsson-Goc-Kopecky
3. Bergenheim-Madden-Bradley
4. Matthias-Santorelli-Barch

Defense

1. Campbell-Gudbranson
2. Garrison-Weaver
3. Strachan-Ellerby