The Winnipeg Jets are coming off an exciting overtime victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday thanks to the unworldly play of goalie Connor Hellebuyck and a powerful blast by Neal Pionk in extra time. The absence of captain Adam Lowry in that game allowed the Avs’ top unit to cause plenty of problems for the Jets’ defense, but the overall team effort was much improved from their listless performance in Utah.
Winnipeg (32-14-3) will get a chance to get their revenge on the Utah HC (21-19-7) this Friday when the two Western Conference franchises clash at the Canada Life Centre. The third of four meetings this season, the squads have split the previous two games with the home team walking away with the 2 points. The Jets shut out the Hockey Club 3-0 in the middle of their record hot streak to start to the season, while Utah played with Winnipeg in their recent 5-2 victory.
It is still a bit early to get any official confirmation of what players will be on the ice tonight, but there are a few things we do know. For one, Utah’s starting goaltender for the contest will most likely be Connor Ingram (.882%) because starter Karel Vejmelka (.913%) was in net when the Hockey Club shut out the Minnesota Wild (4-0) last night. Ingram held Winnipeg to 2 goals in their last meeting, so I am not sure how much of an advantage that will end up being.
The Jets do get the benefit of playing their next two matches against teams that are on the second half of back-to-back situations, so Scott Arniel and the coaching staff should be stressing a high tempo start to the game to wear down their opponents. Kevin Cheveldayoff did make a move yesterday when he lent forward Dominic Toninato to the Manitoba Moose, which was a bit surprising because it left the Jets with only 12 forwards. Well, the mystery was solved earlier today when Winnipeg recalled prospect Brad Lambert from the minors. So far no word on whether Lambo will break into tonight’s lineup, but with both teams in Winnipeg at the moment, there is nothing standing in the way of such a move.
**The latest news from Jets’ practice indicates that speedy Nikolaj Ehlers isn’t participating and Lambert is filling a 4th line center role:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Perfetti-Namestnikov-Iafallo
Niederreiter-Kupari-Appleton
Gustafsson-Lambert-Barron
That is not great news for Winnipeg, since the Great Dane has been one of the team’s better players in recent outings. No changes expected on the back end, but there is a chance that backup Eric Comrie gets another start.
Without that breaking news to aid their predictions, here is how PuckPedia is suggesting the teams will line up this evening:
The Utah HC is coming in hot with wins in 3 straight contests, all against the Central Division. So the Winnipeg Jets could have their work cut out for them against the Pacific Division squad. Especially if Fly isn’t available….
Time for a look at how the teams’ season stats compare and to check out ESPN’s look at the masked men:
Puck drops at 7 pm Central at the CLC on this lovely -3 Celsius day in Winnipeg. Have a good day everyone.
Go Winnipeg!!!!!!
