Canucks at Jets preview

CANUCKS (14-12-4) at JETS (17-8-5)
8 p.m. ET; TSN3, SNP, NHL.TV

The Jets will be without defenseman Dustin Byfuglien, who is week to week after sustaining a lower-body injury in a 4-3 overtime loss against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday. Jets coach Paul Maurice said he hopes Byfuglien can return after Christmas.
Winnipeg is 0-2-1 in its past three games after going 9-2-1 in its previous 12. Goaltender Connor Hellebuyck will start; he's lost his past two games.
The Canucks, who've lost back-to-back games, will be without forward Sven Baertschi, who sustained a fractured jaw in a 4-2 loss against the Calgary Flames on Saturday.
Goalie Jacob Markstrom will start. He is 3-2-1 with 12 goals against and one shutout in his past six starts.

Players to watch

Canucks forward Brock Boeser has five points (four goals, one assist) in his past five games.
Jets forward Blake Wheeler has 10 points (two goals, eight assists) in a five-game point streak. Wheeler is tied for third in NHL scoring with 38 points (eight goals, 30 assists) and tied for first in assists.

They said it

" That's today's NHL. You have to deal with injuries. I've said it before but I will say it again, it's a challenge but also opportunity for guys on our team. Excited to see how guys respond." -- Canucks coach Travis Green
"No team's perfect. You're not going to go through the entire season unscathed, without going through two or three losses. We played well against Tampa. They're the League's best team, and we were right with them and had a good chance to win." -- Jets forward Bryan Little

Canucks projected lineup

Daniel Sedin -- Henrik Sedin -- Loui Eriksson
Thomas Vanek -- Markus Granlund -- Brock Boeser
Jake Virtanen -- Nic Dowd -- Sam Gagner
Brendan Gaunce -- Michael Chaput -- Alexander Burmistrov
Alexander Edler -- Chris Tanev
Michael Del Zotto -- Derrick Pouliot
Ben Hutton -- Troy Stecher
Jacob Markstrom
Anders Nilsson
Scratched:Nikolay Goldobin, Alex Biega
Injured:Bo Horvat (fractured foot), Brandon Sutter (lower body), Erik Gudbranson (upper body), Sven Baertschi (broken jaw)

Jets projected lineup

Kyle Connor -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler
Nikolaj Ehlers -- Bryan Little -- Patrik Laine
Andrew Copp -- Adam Lowry -- Brandon Tanev
Mathieu Perreault -- Matt Hendricks -- Joel Armia
Josh Morrissey -- Jacob Trouba
Dmitry Kulikov -- Tyler Myers
Ben Chiarot -- Tucker Poolman
Connor Hellebuyck
Steve Mason
Scratched:Marko Dano, Shawn Matthias
Injured:Dustin Byfuglien (lower body), Toby Enstrom (lower body)

Status report

Green said Gudbranson is a week away from returning. … Mason (concussion) was activated from injured reserve on Monday and Eric Comrie was returned to Manitoba of the American Hockey League.

Stat pack

Henrik Sedin has 10 assists in his past 10 games. Daniel Sedin has five points (one goal, four assists) in his past five games. … Laine has nine points (four goals, five assists) during a five-game point streak. Ehlers has nine points (five goals, four assists) in his past nine games.