The 48-19-4 Winnipeg Jets will host the 47-15-8 Washington Capitals from Canada Life Centre on Tuesday.

The highly-anticipated first vs. second affair will feature the league's No. 1 and 2 clubs squaring off for the final time this season. 

Washington's Alex Ovechkin will continue his chase for Wayne Gretzky's all-time goal scoring record, while Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck will be back between the pipes looking to shut down the Russian sniper.

While the Capitals are 9-1-0 in their last 10 games, the Jets have seen things take a turn for the worst over the past few days. Losses to the lowly Vancouver Canucks and Buffalo Sabres highlighted a lacklustre week of performance.

And that's all before the biggest piece of news from the Jets' loss to Buffalo. Star winger Gabe Vilardi suffered an upper-body injury and is now considered out week-to-week. His status for the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs is also in question.

With Vilardi out due to injury, former Kings teammate Rasmus Kupari will draw in in place of Alex Iafallo (another Kings running mate) who has been promoted to Vilardi's spot on the top line. This adjustment will keep the second and third lines intact. 

The defence pairs will remain the same with Logan Stanley back in on the blueline as Neal Pionk continues to recovery from a lower-body injury that has him also listed as week-to-week.

Winnipeg Jets' expected line combinations for Tuesday, March 25 vs. Washington:

Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo

Ehlers-Lowry-Appleton

Niederreiter-Namestnikov-Perfetti

Barron-Kupari-Tanev

Morrissey-DeMelo

Samberg-Schenn

Stanley-Miller

Hellebuyck

Injured: Vilardi, Pionk

Healthy scratches: Fleury, Heinola, Gustafsson