After suffering a loss in their home opener, the Winnipeg Jets take flight and embark on their first road trip, kicking things off in the windy city against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Thursday's game in Chicago marks the only time this season the Blackhawks and Jets will meet. The Hawks took last season's only meeting, coming away with a 5-4 shootout victory in Atlanta. The Thrashers struggled against Chicago in recent years, losing four of five meetings since the 2005-06 season.
The game also marks the return to Chicago for two former Blackhawks players. Jets captain Andrew Ladd and Dustin Byfuglien both spent time with the Hawks and captured a Stanley Cup at the end of the 2009-10 season. Byfuglien played in Chicago for five seasons, while Ladd spent three seasons with the team. The two were sent to Atlanta in separate trades which occurred in only a week span from one another.
Chicago traded Byfuglien on Jun. 24, 2010, along with Brent Sopel, Ben Eager and Akim Aliu to the Thrashers for a 1st and 2nd round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, Marty Reasoner, Joey Crabb and Jeremy Morin.
Ladd was acquired by Atlanta on Jul 1., 2010 in exchange for defenceman Ivan Vishnevskiy and Atlanta's second-round choice in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft.
Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff was also with the Blackhawks at the time of their Stanley Cup victory. In his first season with Chicago in 2009-10, Cheveldayoff served as an assistant to general manager Stan Bowman.
The Jets are expected to make some slight changes to their opening night lineup which suffered a 5-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Evander Kane will play on the second line alongside Alex Burmistrov and Nik Antropov, while the third line will feature Mark Scheifele centering Brett MacLean and Kyle Wellwood.
The defensive pairings are expected to be switched up as well, with Johnny Oduya demoted to the third pairing with Ron Hainsey. Taking Oduya's spot on the top defensive pairing with Byfuglien will likely be Tobias Enstrom.
Ondrej Pavelec gets the start in net. Pavelec stopped just 17 of 22 shots in the new-look Jets' first loss. The 24-year old netminder has a record of 0-0-2 in two career starts versus Chicago, posting a 3.71 goals-against average and a .900 save percentage.
Winnipeg Jets Projected Lines
Forwards
Andrew Ladd - Bryan Little - Blake Wheeler
Evander Kane - Alex Burmistrov - Nik Antropov
Brett MacLean - Mark Scheifele - Kyle Wellwood
Tanner Glass - Jim Slater - Chris Thorburn
Defencemen
Dustin Byfuglien - Tobias Enstrom
Mark Stuart - Zach Bogosian
Ron Hainsey - Johnny Oduya
Injured: Eric Feher (shoulder), Aaron Gagnon (knee), Ben Maxwell (upper-body), Kenndal McArdle (lower-body)
The Chicago Blackhawks are coming off a 5-2 home victory over the Dallas Stars on the back end of a home-and-home series to open up their season.
The Hawks dropped the first game of the season in Dallas with a 2-1 loss, but were led to their first victory of the year on Saturday thanks to a two-goal effort from David Bolland. The win ended a four-game losing streak against Dallas for the Blackhawks.
Hawks captain Jonathan Toews also had a good game in Chicago's home opener, collecting the game winning goal en route to second star of the game honours. The Winnipeg native traditionally played well against the Thrashers, picking up three goals and three assists in four games.
In addition to Toews' strong play against Atlanta, teammate Patrick Kane also excelled in games against the Thrashers. The Buffalo, New York native had three goals and four assists for seven points in four games against Atlanta.
The Blackhawks are getting a welcome addition to their lineup on Thursday as Dan Carcillo returns from a two-game suspension to make his debut with the team. Carcillo signed a one-year, $775K deal in the off-season and is set to play on the Chicago's second line alongside the offensively talented Kane and Marian Hossa.
Ray Emery will also make his Chicago debut as he gets the start in net. The Blackhawks invited Emery to training camp on a pro tryout and then signed the 29-year old netminder to a one-year, $600K contract on Oct. 3, just four days before the season began. In ten games with the Anaheim Ducks last season, Emery went 7-2-0 with a 2.28 goals-against and a .926 save percentage.
Chicago Blackhawks Projected Lines
Forwards
Andrew Brunette - Jonathan Toews - Patrick Sharp
Dan Carcillo - Patrick Kane - Marian Hossa
Bryan Bickell - David Bolland - Michael Frolik
Rostislav Olesz - Marcus Kruger - Jamal Mayers
Defencemen
Duncan Keith - Nick Leddy
Brent Seabrook - Niklas Hjalmarsson
Sean O'Donnell - Steve Montador
Goalies
Ray Emery
Corey Crawford
Injured: Philippe Paradis, Ben Smith (concussion), Viktor Stalberg (leg)
Jets vs. Blackhawks gets underway at 7:30PM CT. The game will be broadcast on the NHL on TSN, TSN Radio 1290 and CSN-Chicago.
For up-to-the-minute Jets news and updates, be sure to follow Ken Beckett on Twitter @KenBeckett 
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