Ducks at Jets
The Winnipeg Jets begin what they hope is just the first of two contests without superstar Patrik Laine on Friday when they continue their six-game homestand against the Anaheim Ducks. Laine, whose 43 goals trail only Washington captain Alex Ovechkin for the league lead, sustained a bruised left foot while blocking a shot during the second period of Tuesday's 2-1 overtime win over Los Angeles.
The early exit by the 19-year-old Laine brought an end to his NHL-record 15-game point streak (18 goals, eight assists) by a teenager, but that's not the primary concern of Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice. "Quite a bit of swelling down from Day 1 to Day 2. He's getting around under his own power," Maurice said of Laine, who could be sidelined anywhere from four to 14 days. While the Jets have posted a 12-4-1 mark in their last 17 contests overall to reside comfortably in second place in the Central Division, the Ducks are 11-4-1 in their last 16 and one point behind Los Angeles for third place in the Pacific with a game in hand. John Gibson improved his save percentage to .943 in his last 12 outings (10-2-0) on Wednesday after turning aside all 29 shots he faced as Anaheim opened its four-game road trip with a 4-0 triumph over Calgary.
TV: 8 p.m. ET, FS West (Anaheim), TSN3 (Winnipeg)
ABOUT THE DUCKS (38-24-12): Rickard Rakell and captain Ryan Getzlaf have been leading by example as Anaheim extended its winning streak to four games, with the former notching 15 points (nine goals, six assists) in his past 11 contests while the latter has 18 (three goals, 15 assists) in his last 10. "We need every point we can get," the 24-year-old Rakell said. "Even though we put together a streak here, not much has changed. It's still a matter of one point here and one point there and we could be out of it. We have to fight all the way in." Adam Henrique notched an assist on Wednesday to boost his point total to 12 (five goals, seven assists) in his past 19 games overall and 29 (16 goals, 13 assists) in 49 games with the club.
ABOUT THE JETS (44-19-10): Bryan Little, who scored a goal and set up two others in Winnipeg's 4-1 victory over Anaheim on Nov. 24, skated on the right wing with Paul Stastny and Nikolaj Ehlers at Thursday's practice. "I'm going to try and hopefully keep them going," the 30-year-old Little said. "They've been on a roll and have had really good chemistry since day one. Those guys have been playing really well. I want to come in and try not to disrupt that too much, and hopefully pick up where they left off." The 22-year-old Ehlers scored twice in the first five minutes and added an assist in the first encounter with the Ducks.
OVERTIME
1. Rakell resides one assist shy of 100 for his career.
2. Winnipeg LW Kyle Connor has scored five times in his last four games, with multi-goal performances in two of his last three.
3. Anaheim D Francois Beauchemin matched his point total of his previous 18 games with a goal and an assist versus the Flames.