The 18-22-5 Winnipeg Jets will take on the 26-12-9 Minnesota Wild from Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul on Thursday evening.
Winnipeg has strung together three-straight wins and has escaped 32nd-place in the league - at least for the time being.
despite a boat load of competitors between themselves and a postseason berth, the Jets seem to be adamant on making their way to the playoffs, while sacrificing their place near the top of the NHL's Draft Lottery set to go in advance of the draft this June.
Winnipeg will be playing its first road contest in six games, and just one of two in a busy 11-game stretch from Canada Life Centre.
With three defencemen going down with injury over the last week (Neal Pionk, Haydn Fleury, Colin Miller), the team has resorted to two defensive call-ups and the regular, day-to-day use of sometimes healthy scratch Luke Schenn.
Both Isaak Phillips and Elias Salomonsson have been recalled from the minors, with Salomonsson expected to draw into the fold on Thursday. Injured forward Morgan Barron is also hoping to get into the lineup for the road contest after missing the past two weeks due to injury. Danny Zhilkin is expected to get the night off.
Winnipeg Jets' expected line combinations for Thursday, January 15 at Minnesota:
Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
Perfetti-Toews-Vilardi
Niederreiter-Lowry-Namestnikov
Koepke-Barron-Pearson
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Salomonsson
Stanley-Schenn
Hellebuyck
Injured: Pionk, Fluery, Miller
Healthy scratches: Nyquist, Zhilkin