Brossoit manning drawbridge for Jets tonight against Knights’ attack

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This article was published 14/01/2019 (1925 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Backup goalie Laurent Brossoit will be the surprise starter tonight as the Winnipeg Jets host the Vegas Golden Knights in a rematch of last year’s Western Conference Final.

Coach Paul Maurice said Brossoit has earned the nod, going 9-0-1 in his first 10 starts with the Jets this season, including a 3-2 win over Detroit last Friday night. It also allows No. 1 goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who has struggled at times in recent games, to get some rest.

“His play dictated that he should get back in sooner, rather than later,” Maurice said following the morning skate at Bell MTS Place.

Defenceman Tyler Myers returns to action tonight after missing the past two games with a lower-body injury, but blue-liner Ben Chiarot will not suit up as a result of a lower-body injury, according to Maurice. As a result, Sami Niku stays in the lineup.

Puck drop at Bell MTS Place is at 7 p.m. (TSN 3, TSN 1290).

This is no ordinary mid-January game for the Jets, whose Western Conference final loss to the Golden Nights in five games last May is still fresh in the collective memory.

“I expect tonight to be a pretty hard-fought game. We want to beat these guys pretty badly and continue to get wins,” said veteran centre Bryan Little, who has scored the winning goal in each of his team’s last two games.

Winnipeg (29-14-2) is on top of the Central Division, while Vegas (28-16-4) sits third in the Pacific Division. The Golden Knights have rebounded after a sluggish start to their season.

This also marks the return of Paul Stastny to Winnipeg. He was acquired from the St. Louis Blues at the trade deadline last February and provided to be a major addition up the middle for the Jets leading up to and during their playoff run.

Stastny opted to sign a lucrative three-year, $19.5-million free-agent contract with Vegas over the summer.

“I had a blast here,” he said. “I have nothing bad to say. I was only here for whatever it was, three months or four months, but to me and my family it felt like we were here for four or five years. That’s the kind of bonds I had with guys on the team and people kind of away from the rink that my family kind of hung out with. Nothing but praise. And excited to come here.”

Nic Petan will be the lone healthy scratch for Winnipeg. Chiarot, along with defencemen Dustin Byfuglien and forward Nikolaj Ehlers, are all out with injuries.

“Coming in against a fast group tonight. They’re doing well, we’re doing well. It’s going to be a fast game,” said Myers.

Vegas is 9-1-2 in its past 12 games. Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury is playing perhaps the best hockey of his career and is a bona fide Vezina Trophy contender.

“We know Vegas is a tough opponent, so we know we need to be at our best,” said top-line centre Mark Scheifele.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg