NHL
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
