Jets at Stars preview

JETS (36-16-9) at STARS (35-22-4)
7 p.m. ET; SN360, SN1, FS-SW+, NHL.TV

Michael Hutchinson will start for the Jets, who are two points behind the idle Nashville Predators for first place in the Central Division. Winnipeg is 3-0-1 in their past four road games, including a 4-0 win against the St. Louis Blues on Friday.
Kari Lehtonen, who made 18 saves in a 2-0 win against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday, will start for the Stars, who are 2-3-0 in their past five games and have six goals in that span (including being shut out twice), following a five-game winning streak.
Dallas is one point behind the Minnesota Wild for third place in the Central Division and two points ahead of St. Louis for the first wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference.

Players to watch

Jets forward Blake Wheeler has 13 points (four goals, nine assists) during a seven-game point streak.
Stars forward Jamie Benn has four assists in his past six games.

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They said it

"It's a huge two points. A team that is trying to catch us. A very tightly contested division and conference. Every game is magnified now." -- Jets forward Blake Wheeler
"I think it's good we got back on a little roll here with the way we need to play because we definitely owe [the Jets]. It's going to be a tough game like it was [against Los Angeles], but I think everyone is looking forward to that game." -- Stars defenseman Greg Pateryn

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
Michael Hutchinson
Connor Hellebuyck
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)

Stars projected lineup

Remi Elie -- Tyler Seguin -- Mattias Janmark
Devin Shore -- Jamie Benn -- Alexander Radulov
Antoine Roussel -- Radek Faksa -- Tyler Pitlick
Gemel Smith -- Jason Spezza -- Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell -- John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis -- Greg Pateryn
Marc Methot -- Stephen Johns
Kari Lehtonen
Ben Bishop
Scratched:Julius Honka
Injured:Martin Hanzal (lower body)

Status report

The Jets did not have a morning skate. … Hanzal will be evaluated next week, Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said.

Stat pack

The Jets have defeated the Stars six straight times, including twice this season by a combined score of 9-3. ... Radulov has one point in his past five games; he had 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists) in his previous 15. ... Seguin has one goal in his past five games after he had 10 points (seven goals, three assists) in his previous eight. … Byfuglien has seven points (one goal, six assists) during a four-game point streak. … Laine has seven points (four goals, three assists), including a goal in each game during a four game point streak.