The Winnipeg Jets have made a couple substantial line alterations in advance of their test with the visiting Detroit Red Wings on Friday. Mark Scheifele has been shifted to the wing in hopes of reclaiming his scoring touch, while Vladislav Namestnikov has moved into the No. 2 centre role.
With the Jets about to begin their final homestand of the season with a lengthy five-game stretch, head coach Rick Bowness has opted to make a significant change to the offence.
The team's long time No. 1 centre has been slid over to the wing, while Pierre-Luc Dubois has been pulled up and has joined Scheifele and Kyle Connor on the first unit.
"He lines up at wing, but on the right side he'll still be taking some face-offs. Mark is a smart player," Bowness said of the ice-cold Scheifele. "We need to score some goals. So I talked to the three of them this morning and said let's give this a try, and they're all gung-ho for it. So let's see what it looks like."
The three make up about as cold of a trio as one could imagine. Scheifele has gone nine games without scoring a goal and has just one game with a goal in his past 12 contests. Dubois has three goals in his last 17 games, while Connor has scored twice in his last 18 appearances.
"We control everything that's going to happen to us to the end of the year," Dubois said. "We know what we can do, and we know what we can achieve if we play the way we can."
Also of note for Winnipeg, is that the Jets will be without the services of defenceman Josh Morrissey on Friday, as he is under the weather. Logan Stanley - who has served as a healthy scratch since putting up two points in a three-game span from March 8-12 - will slot back in.
Expected Lines for March 31 vs. Detroit:
Connor-Dubois-Scheifele
Ehlers-Namestnikov-Wheeler
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Stenlund-Kuhlman
Samberg-DeMelo
Dillon-Pionk
Stanley-Schmidt
Hellebuyck
Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM central time from Canada Life Centre on Friday.