Jets at Ducks preview

JETS (29-13-7) at DUCKS (23-17-9)
10 p.m. ET; PRIME, TSN3, NHL.TV

The Jets, who won four straight games from Nov. 11-18, lead the Central Division by two points over the Nashville Predators.
Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck will make his sixth consecutive start for Winnipeg, which is 9-2-1 in its past 12 games.
Goaltender John Gibson is expected to start for the Ducks, who are 4-2-0 in their past six games. Gibson is 6-2-1 with a 2.36 goals-against average in his past nine starts.

Players to watch

Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers has six points (three goals, three assists) in six games against the Ducks, including two goals and an assist in a 4-1 win on Nov. 24.
Ducks center Ryan Getzlaf has five points (two goals, three assists) in his past two games and 24 points (five goals, 19 assists) in his past 18 games.

They said it

"So he had a break, came back to Winnipeg, went in to Calgary, went back to Winnipeg, goes to the West Coast, is going to the East Coast (for the NHL All-Star Game), and then he's going to come back to Winnipeg and we play [the] Tampa [Bay Lightning] the next night." -- Jets coach Paul Maurice on goaltender Connor Hellebuyck's schedule
"Whether you're playing first line or fourth line, first pair or third pair, you have to contribute what you do best to the hockey team." -- Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler

Jets projected lineup

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

Ducks projected lineup

Rickard Rakell -- Ryan Getzlaf -- Ondrej Kase
Andrew Cogliano -- Ryan Kesler -- JT Brown
Nick Ritchie -- Adam Henrique -- Jakob Silfverberg
Chris Wagner -- Antoine Vermette -- Corey Perry
Cam Fowler -- Kevin Bieksa
Hampus Lindholm -- Josh Manson
Francois Beauchemin -- Brandon Montour
John Gibson
Ryan Miller
Scratched:Korbinian Holzer, Jared Boll, Derek Grant
Injured: Patrick Eaves (illness)

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Status report

Kulikov won't play after leaving in the first period of a 5-4 overtime win at the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday. Roslovic was promoted to the top line Tuesday and practiced there Wednesday. Connor, tied for third on the Jets with 15 goals, is filling Roslovic's spot on the fourth line.

Stat pack

The Jets are 23-1-4 when they score first and 17-1-1 when leading after the first period. Wheeler has two assists in his past five games after having 11 points (five goals, six assists) in a seven-game point streak. … Rakell has 15 points (10 goals, five assists) in his past 14 games.