Sharks at Jets preview

[HockeyLady]

SHARKS (21-12-6) at JETS (24-11-7)

3 p.m. ET; TSN3, NBCSCA, NHL.TV

 

The Game

Defenseman Toby Enstrom will return to the lineup for the Winnipeg Jets against the San Jose Sharks at Bell MTS Place on Sunday.

Enstrom missed 23 games with a lower-body injury sustained Nov. 18 in a 5-2 win against the New Jersey Devils.

The Jets are 4-0-1 in the past five games and 6-1-2 in the past nine. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck will start; he is 6-0-2 with 16 goals against and two shutouts in his past eight starts.

The Sharks will look to finish their five-game road trip with six of a possible 10 points. San Jose lost 6-5 in overtime to the Ottawa Senators on Friday and is 1-1-2 after a three-game winning streak.

 

Players to watch

Sharks forward Joe Thornton needs two points to tie Adam Oates (1,420) for 17th in NHL history.

Jets forward Blake Wheeler has eight points (five goals, three assists) in a five-game point streak.

 

They said it

"It's been a tough seven weeks. I would have been ready if you asked me two weeks ago. I feel great. The last few days have been good for me … no setbacks at all." -- Jets defenseman Toby Enstrom

"We've got a chance to have a great trip with a win in Winnipeg. We've set ourselves up, we've worked hard and hopefully finish it with a win." -- Sharks coach Peter DeBoer 

 

Sharks projected lineup

Timo Meier -- Joe Thornton -- Joe Pavelski

Tomas Hertl -- Logan Couture -- Joonas Donskoi

Mikkel Boedker -- Chris Tierney -- Kevin Labanc

Marcus Sorensen -- Joel Ward -- Melker Karlsson

Brenden Dillon -- Brent Burns

Marc-Edouard Vlasic -- Justin Braun

Joakim Ryan -- Dylan DeMelo

Martin Jones

Aaron Dell

Scratched: Paul Martin, Tim Heed, Jannik Hansen

Injured: Barclay Goodrow (lower body)

 

Jets projected lineup

Kyle Connor -- Blake Wheeler -- Patrik Laine

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Bryan Little -- Mathieu Perreault

Andrew Copp -- Adam Lowry -- Joel Armia

Shawn Matthias -- Matt Hendricks -- Marko Dano

Josh Morrissey -- Jacob Trouba

Toby Enstrom -- Dustin Byfuglien

Dmitry Kulikov -- Tyler Myers

Connor Hellebuyck

Steve Mason

Scratched: Jack Roslovic, Tucker Poolman, Ben Chiarot

Injured: Mark Scheifele (upper body), Brandon Tanev (lower body)

 

Status report

Chiarot will be scratched to make room for Enstrom.

 

Stat pack

Burns has 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in his past 13 games. ... Labanc has nine points (one goal, eight assists) in his past eight games. ... Laine has six assists in a four-game point streak. .. Byfuglien scored his first goal of the season in a 4-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday.