Panthers at Jets preview

PANTHERS (26-23-6) at JETS (34-15-9)
8 p.m. ET; TSN3, FS-F, NHL.TV

The Jets are tied with the Nashville Predators with 77 points, four behind the Vegas Golden Knights for most in the NHL.
Goalie Connor Hellebuyck will start for the Jets. He is 7-2-2 with a 2.14 goals-against average, .926 save percentage and two shutouts in his past 11 appearances.
The Panthers have won three in a row and seven of their past eight, including a 6-3 victory against the Calgary Flames on Saturday. They are six points behind the New York Islanders for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Eastern Conference.
Goalie James Reimer could start for the Panthers after Roberto Luongo made 30 saves in his return from a lower-body injury Saturday.

Players to watch

Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad has eight points (three goals, eight assists) in a six-game point streak.
Jets forward Mark Scheifele has seven points (two goals, five assists) in a three-game point streak.

They said it

"It's been a good run and I think at some point we've got to just keep digging in and getting as many points as we can right now. We're still in the thick of it and we've got some games in hand. The guys are playing like it's our playoffs right now." -- Panthers coach Bob Boughner
"We really like where our game is at. Look at the standings, we like where we are sitting right now. A lot of hockey left but we're a confident team. We still have a few guys who are hurt that are coming back soon, so it's only going to get better for us." -- Jets forward Mathieu Perreault

Panthers projected lineup

Evgenii Dadonov -- Aleksander Barkov -- Nick Bjugstad
Jonathan Huberdeau -- Vincent Trocheck -- Denis Malgin
Jamie McGinn -- Jared McCann -- Radim Vrbata
Micheal Haley -- Derek MacKenzie -- Colton Sceviour
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
MacKenzie Weegar --
Alexander Petrovic
James Reimer
Roberto Luongo
Scratched:Connor Brickley, Maxim Mamin, Ian McCoshen
Injured:None

Jets projected lineup

Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Mathieu Perreault -- Bryan Little --
Jack Roslovic
Nikolaj Ehlers -- Andrew Copp -- Patrik Laine
Nic Petan -- Matt Hendricks -- Joel Armia
Josh Morrissey -- Tyler Myers
Toby Enstrom -- Dustin Byfuglien
Ben Chiarot -- Dmitry Kulikov
Connor Hellebuyck
Eric Comrie
Scratched:Tucker Poolman, Marko Dano
Injured:Shawn Matthias (upper body), Steve Mason (concussion), Jacob Trouba (lower body), Adam Lowry (upper body), Brandon Tanev (upper body), Michael Hutchinson (concussion)

Status report

Florida did not hold a morning skate. … Mason, Hutchinson, Tanev and Matthias all skated.

Stat pack

Barkov has 10 points (four goals, six assists) in his past seven games. ... Wheeler has six points (two goals, four assists) in a four-game point streak.