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NHL Preview: Winnipeg Jets versus Florida Panthers

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The Panthers and Jets fly to Helsinki, Finland for game one of the NHL Global Series

The Florida Panthers and the Winnipeg Jets meet in Finland for game one of the NHL Global Series. These teams will play again the following day for game two. All eyes are on the two superstar forwards in their native country, Florida’s Aleksander Barkov and Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine. Last season, the two teams split the season series at 1-1-0 a piece.

Tale of the tape

Winnipeg (7-4-1)

Winnipeg is coming off of a 3-2 loss by the Toronto Maple Leafs. However, despite not playing since October 27th, they have won four of their last six games.

Center Mark Schiefele currently leads the team in points with 12 (6 goals, 6 assists) in 12 games. Look for him to get the party going in this matchup and continue his five-game point streak.

Although he has gone five straight games without a point, look for Laine to make some noise as this is a huge homecoming for him in Helsinki.

Florida (2-4-3)

Florida is also coming off of a 3-2 loss. This time it was by the New Jersey Devils. However, Mike Hoffman extended his point streak to six games and looks to add to that in these two matchups.

In addition, Roberto Luongo has finally come off the injured reserve. However, he is not expected to play in these games. So expect the helm to be given to James Reimer and Michael Hutchinson.

Additionally, eyes are on captain Aleksander Barkov, a native of Finland. Expect him to make some noise in this hometown visit.

Injuries/suspensions

Winnipeg

The Winnipeg Jets currently have no injured or suspended players.

Florida

As previously mentioned, Roberto Luongo is coming off of the injured reserve. However, he will not play these next two games.

Jaime McGinn is still recovering from back surgery.

Mark Pysyk is not expected to play these next two games after suffering an upper-body injury on October 19th.

Derek Mackenzie is still recovering from shoulder surgery.

Michael Haley is still out due to personal problems.

Projected Lineup (according to NHL.com)

Winnipeg

L1: Nikolaj Ehlers-Mark Scheifele-Blake Wheeler

L2: Kyle Connor-Bryan Little-Mathieu Perreault

L3: Brandon Tanev-Adam Lowry-Patrik Laine

L4: Brendan Lemieux-Andrew Copp-Jack Roslovic

D1: Josh Morrissey-Jacob Trouba

D2: Ben Chariot-Dustin Byfuglien

D3: Dmitry Kulikov-Tyler Myers

G1: Connor Hellebuyck

G2: Lauren Brossoit

Scratches: Nic Petan, Joe Morrow

Florida

L1: Evgenii Dadonov-Aleksander Barkov-Nick Bjugstad

L2: Johnathan Huberdeau-Vincent Trocheck-Mike Hoffman

L3: Frank Vatrano-Jared McCann-Denis Malgin

L4: Troy Brouwer-Juho Lammikko-Colton Scevior

D1: Keith Yandle-Alexander Petrovic

D2: Michael Matheson-Aaron Ekblad

D3: Mackenzie Weegar-Bogdan Kiselevich

G1: James Reimer

G2: Michael Hutchinson

Scratches: Maxim Mamin, Roberto Luongo

Social Media

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Photo Credit

Photo courtesy of Sajeewa Welendagoda

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