This afternoon the Jets welcome the St. Louis Blues to the MTS Centre. The Jets will be looking to gain another two points after their loss against the Red Wings on November 20, but the Blues definitely won’t make it easy on them. Having had two days off, the Jets should be ready to play tomorrow and I hope they spent their small bit of down time wisely.
Keys to the Game
Winnipeg Jets
1) Figure out this "power play" thing: The Jets on the power play is a thing of nightmares. If they could just figure it out, things would be a lot easier for them out there. It's all well and good to draw a penalty, but if you can't capitalize on the advantage there's really no point, is there?
2) Watch out for Tarasenko:
Right now, Vladimir Tarasenko is playing some great hockey and is quickly compiling a nice list of goals scored this season. He currently has 12 goals in his past 20 games and sits third in the league for the same which is pretty scary business for the Jets. In addition to Tarasenko, his linemate Jori Lehtera has 8 assists in the past 10 games. Whichever goalie is in (I’m assuming Pavelec, but I could be wrong) will have to be prepared for lots of shots from this line in particular should the defense in front of him have an epic meltdown.
3) No sleeping in the first: The Blues have scored in the first period in 9 out of 11 of their last games which means the Jets will have to be on point early. There will likely not be much time to ease into the game and the Jets need to be ready to go right off the hop.
St. Louis Blues
1) Don't worry about penalties too much: Getting a penalty definitely sucks, but when you're facing the Jets it's not really something to lose much sleep over. Take advantage of the fact that the opposition is under the impression that power play goals are mythical beasts that may or may not be real and hey, maybe capitalize on it with a short handed goal. Why not really?
2) Just a little helpful hint:
3) Goalie power: The Blues have two very talented goalies on their roster. Both Brian Elliot and Jake Allen have had some awesome games as of late, but they are not flawless. Early reports suggest that Allen will be in net and his last game ended in a loss to the Montreal Canadiens. The Jets will be a challenge for him, but most likely not one he hasn’t seen before and by staying strong and focused in net this could be an easy win for the Blues.
Player to Boo Mercilessly
Prediction
Jets 2
Blues 3
