NASHVILLE -- The Winnipeg Jets will be without defenseman Dustin Byfuglien and center Bryan Little against the Nashville Predators on Saturday at Bridgestone Arena.
Byfuglien sustained an upper-body injury in a 3-1 loss to the Ottawa Senators on Wednesday that will keep him out of the lineup 2-4 weeks. Little sustained an undisclosed injury in the same game and is expected to miss at least the first half of Winnipeg's four-game road trip.
"We have good people to come in and take those minutes," Jets coach Paul Maurice said. "You don't replace them, but we have depth on our right [defensive] side for sure. [Jacob] Trouba has done it in the past and appreciates and enjoys the opportunity to play where his minutes go up.
"It's a little bit more of a process to replace Bryan Little in that role as the number-one center, so we moved the lines around a little bit based on health and based on roles. Jim Slater gets to come up and play his game in that role. He'll take an awful lot of faceoffs in the defensive zone."
Adam Lowry will move up to replace Little on the first line for Winnipeg, alongside Andrew Ladd and Michael Frolik.
"I think the nice thing about having Adam is he plays such a simple game," Ladd said. "That makes it easier on your linemates to know what to expect from him. I think he fits into the mold of what me and [Frolik] do, and that's skating, getting on the body and getting on the puck. It should be a pretty easy transition."
The Jets have lost three of four games against the Predators this season and are looking to win at Bridgestone Arena for the first time in 2014-15. The previous games this season have been high-paced, and the Jets are expecting the same thing Saturday.
"They've all been tight games from start to finish," Ladd said. "The pace has been extremely high so I think we'll expect more of the same from them. You expect to play some time in your own zone and you have to be comfortable with doing that against them and just take what they give you."
Nashville has lost a season-high five games in a row (0-5-0), including three in a row at Bridgestone Arena. The losing streak is the first stretch of adversity Nashville has had to deal with this season.
"It happens to every team once a year," Predators forward Gabriel Bourque said. "It's our time so the guys have to stay focused. We have a good team; we know it. We've got to stay positive and bring good energy to the rink tonight."
The Predators said they feel like they are close to breaking out of the slump. They lost 4-3 Thursday to the New York Islanders, but the players said they were happy with how they played.
"Last game I think was our best game in a long time," Bourque said. "We didn't get the win but I think we need to go back and review that game and do what we did well. It's going to come."
Here are the projected lineups:
JETS
Andrew Ladd - Adam Lowry - Michael Frolik
Drew Stafford - Mark Scheifele - Blake Wheeler
Jiri Tlusty - Jim Slater - Lee Stempniak
Chris Thorburn - Eric O'Dell - Anthony Peluso
Scratched: Paul Postma
Injured: Dustin Byfuglien (upper body), Ben Chariot (undisclosed), Grant Clitsome (back), Matt Halischuk (lower body), Bryan Little (undisclosed), Mathieu Perreault (lower body)
PREDATORS
Filip Forsberg - Mike Ribeiro - Craig Smith
Colin Wilson - Mike Fisher - James Neal
Matt Cullen - Calle Jarnkrok - Mike Santorelli
Gabriel Bourque - Paul Gaustad - Taylor Beck
Scratched: Victor Bartley
Injured: Eric Nystrom (lower body), Anton Volchenkov (lower body)
Status report: Hutchinson is expected to start in goal against the Predators. … O'Dell was recalled from the St. John's IceCaps of the American Hockey League on Friday and will play Saturday. … The Predators did not hold a morning skate. Rinne is expected to start.
Who's hot: Frolik has three goals and two assists in his past five games. … Smith has 11 points in his past 11 games; he has six goals in that span.
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