Preview: Jets at Panthers

JETS (18-19-3) at PANTHERS (16-14-8)
7 p.m. ET; SN1, SNW, SNP, FS-F, NHL.TV

Jets team scope

The Winnipeg Jets did not have a morning skate after a 6-4 victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday. Coach Paul Maurice said after the game he did not know whether he would give goalie Connor Hellebuyck a second consecutive start or go with Michael Hutchinson. "Back-to-backs have never been a concern for me with goalies," Maurice said. "It's all the games that are around the back to backs, the three in four, and the four in six. So we'll check to see how he is … but the door is not closed to that." The Jets are 3-2-1 in the second of back-to-back games this season. Hellebuyck and Hutchinson split starts in those six sets. The Jets have won three in a row on the road for the first time this season.

Panthers team scope

Florida Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo will make his third attempt at winning his 448th NHL game, which would move him past Terry Sawchuk for sole possession of fifth place on the League's all-time list. Luongo lost in shootouts to the Detroit Red Wings (4-3) on Dec. 23 and the Toronto Maple Leafs (3-2) on Dec. 28 since tying Sawchuk with a 4-3 shootout victory against the Buffalo Sabres on Dec. 20. Forward Jaromir Jagr needs an assist to pass Paul Coffey for fifth place on the League's all-time list. He tied Coffey with his 1,135th assist in a 3-1 victory against the Dallas Stars on New Year's Eve. Forward Colton Sceviour will miss his second game because of an upper-body injury but coach Tom Rowe said Sceviour could have played if needed.

Jets projected lineup

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Mark Scheifele -- Patrik Laine
Mathieu Perreault -- Bryan Little -- Blake Wheeler
Shawn Matthias -- Adam Lowry -- Joel Armia
Andrew Copp -- Nic Petan -- Drew Stafford
Josh Morrissey -- Dustin Byfuglien
Toby Enstrom -- Jacob Trouba
Ben Chiarot -- Paul Postma
Michael Hutchinson
Connor Hellebuyck
Scratched:Mark Stuart, Chris Thorburn
Injured:Tyler Myers (lower body), Marko Dano (lower body)

Panthers projected lineup

Jaromir Jagr -- Vincent Trocheck -- Seth Griffith
Jussi Jokinen -- Nick Bjugstad -- Reilly Smith
Greg McKegg -- Michael Sgarbossa -- Jonathan Marchessault
Paul Thompson -- Derek MacKenzie -- Shawn Thornton
Keith Yandle -- Aaron Ekblad
Jakub Kindl -- Jason Demers
Mike Matheson -- Mark Pysyk
Roberto Luongo
James Reimer
Scratched: Denis Malgin
Injured: Aleksander Barkov (undisclosed) Jonathan Huberdeau (lower leg), Alexander Petrovic (ankle), Colton Sceviour (upper body)

Status report

Myers remains on injured reserve and will miss his 25th game. … Yandle likely will play in his 700th NHL game. … Defenseman Dylan McIlrath was loaned to Springfield of the American Hockey League. Rowe said the plan was for McIlrath to play three AHL games this week before rejoining the Panthers for a road game against the New Jersey Devils on Monday. … Rowe said Barkov still is expected to miss another two weeks before he gets re-evaluated.

Who's hot

With his empty-net goal against Tampa Bay, Laine became the first Jets player to reach 20 goals in the first 40 games of a season since 2009-10, when Ilya Kovalchuk had 24 goals at that point. … Trouba has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in his past 10 games and is on a four-game point streak. … Trocheck has three goals and two assists in his past three games. … Smith has six points (three goals, three assists) in his past seven games. … The Panthers' 29.6 power-play percentage in their past eight games is third in the League during that span.