JETS (32-14-5) at CANUCKS (37-12-6)

10 p.m. ET; CBC, SN, CITY

How is it that Winnipeg is so good this year?

While they are 3rd in the Central, their are only 5 points out of first. Their special teams are not special at all with a 14.8% PP and 77 % PK. And they can't win faceoffs. All three stats are in the bottom third of the league. Their top scorer only has 43 points. What the fuck is this wizardry?

Well let me tell you how they have done it. 5 vs 5 is their thing. The Jets are +41 when playing 5vs5. They control the puck and create a higher percentage of chances compared to their opponents. Oh...and their goaltender is pretty good, in fact HelleBuyck will probably beat out Demko for the Vezina. The Jets have dominated the Canucks over the past 10 years, including last year where they won all three meetings.

The Canucks seemed pretty smooth over the past couple games, but will have to figure a way through a fast-skating, good in the corners, hard hitting Jets system. The Canucks will have to go into the game with a makeshift 3rd line again and hope the Swedes can get a good matchup in the offensive zone.

The defense is going to have keep guys like Scheifele in check and not him drive to the net. The emergence of Noah Juulsen has been great in the absent of Soucy.

Jets projected lineup

Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Gabriel Vilardi

Cole Perfetti -- Sean Monahan -- Nikolaj Ehlers

Nino Niederreiter -- Adam Lowry -- Mason Appleton

Morgan Barron -- Vladislav Namestnikov -- Alex Iafallo

Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo

Brenden Dillon -- Neal Pionk

Dylan Samberg -- Nate Schmidt

Connor Hellebuyck

Laurent Brossoit

Scratched: Rasmus Kupari, Logan Stanley

Injured: None

Canucks projected lineup

Pius Suter -- J.T. Miller -- Brock Boeser

Nils Hoglander -- Elias Lindholm -- Elias Pettersson

Ilya Mikheyev -- Teddy Blueger -- Conor Garland

Phillip Di Giuseppe -- Nils Aman -- Sam Lafferty

Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek

Ian Cole -- Tyler Myers

Nikita Zadorov -- Noah Juulsen

Thatcher Demko

Casey DeSmith

Scratched: Arshdeep Bains, Mark Friedman

Injured: Dakota Joshua (upper body), Carson Soucy (hand)

Status report

Dillon returns after serving a three-game suspension for an illegal check to the head of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Noel Acciari during a 3-0 loss Feb. 6. ... Stanley, a defenseman who took Dillon's spot after being a healthy scratch the previous 21 games, comes out of the lineup. … The Jets held an optional morning skate Saturday, but Ehlers and Vilardi are expected to swap spots on the top two lines based on practice Friday. … Hellebuyck will start for the ninth time in 11 games. ... The Canucks did not conduct a morning skate Saturday. … Bains, a forward, was called up from Abbotsford of the American Hockey League on Friday, but is not expected to play Saturday. ... Defenseman Jet Woo was reassigned to the AHL. ... Joshua, a forward, is week to week after being injured in a 4-2 win at the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday. - NHL.com

Game Day Battle Hymn

The demanding taste of this group has made have to rediscover music from the days of yore, to find some fast-paced song that gets Twitchy hyped up. (Like that's possible at his age) Also.....I just won't get near Kent's genre of metal. I know those of you who grew up watching HNIC will call this a rip off since it was used in quite a few openings of the broadcast, especially for the 80s Oilers, but on this long weekend we deserve a little Love....rboy.

Go Canucks Go!