Want to go Behind Enemy Lines?: Mile High Hockey
This post will have to act as both the Preview and Game Thread for the game tonight featuring the hometown Jets and the visiting Colorado Avalanche. I'll try to combine the best of both worlds for your reading pleasure.
The Jets are coming off their second dynamic showing against the Boston Bruins at home this year, playing one of the best games of hockey Jets fans have seen thus far and doing away with the defending Stanley Cup Champinos by a 4-2 margin, as once again Bryan Little was a Bruin killer, notching the game winner and adding an insurance tally to end a lengthy goalless drought and send the Jets fans home happy.
It was a hell of a way to start off an 8 game home stand, as it marked the first time in 10 attempts this season that the Jets were able to win the second game in a back to back scenario. That's a good monkey to get off their backs, and once again a morale booster that it isn't an impossibility for them.
The Avs are coming off a 3-1 win over Edmonton while visiting the Oilers on Friday. Colorado is 3-5-2 in their last 10 and their 29-26-4 record puts them in a tie with the Jets at 62 points, though the Avalanche have a game in hand.
Colorado will be as hungry as the Jets in this game, as they too are only a few points out of a playoff spot and as we get into the time of year where every point is somehow more valuable than when it was October and "it's ok, it's early yet" was an excuse.
Still…the Jets need to win at home if they expect to play more than a few games in April.
Keys to the Game, Lineups, Player Numbers, Season Series, Team Scoring Leaders and Injuries coming up after THE JUMP
Keys to the Game:
- Impress the scouts, but more importantly the home fans. As players like Oduya, Slater, Glass and (hopefully not) Wellwood may be part of deadline deals, it’d be great if they could boost their stock by winning.
- I’m thinking that in a matchup between Varlamov and Pavelec, Pavs wins. *knock on wood*
- The top lines have been great of late and I’m hoping that streak continues. “Kylevalexander” has looked very good in their limited time together and I’m hoping more time to mesh means more results.
- Powerplay still needs work, sky is still blue.
- While the Leafs and Caps are slumping, it’s a great time for the Jets to make hay and gain ground.
Lineups
Jets (GP 60 28-26-6 62 PTS)
Forwards
#16 Andrew Ladd — #18 Bryan Little — #26 Blake Wheeler
#9 Evander Kane — #8 Alexander Burmistrov — #13 Kyle Wellwood
#15 Tanner Glass — #19 Jim Slater — #22 Chris Thorburn
#17 Eric Fehr — #80 Nik Antropov — #14 Tim Stapleton
Defencemen
#39 Tobias Enstrom — #33 Dustin Byfuglien
#29 Johnny Oduya — #6 Ron Hainsey
#5 Mark Stuart — #12 Randy Jones
Goaltender
#31 Ondrej Pavelec
Still no Zach Bogosian…Tuesday maybe?
Avalanche (GP 60 29-26-4 62 PTS)
Forwards
#9 Matt Duchene — #26 Paul Stastny — #23 Milan Hejduk
#40 Mark Olver — #37 Ryan O`Reilly — #92 Gabriel Landeskog
#34 Daniel Winnik — #16 Jay McClement — #17 Chuck Kobasew
#55 Cody McLeod — #7 David Van Der Gulik — #54 David Jones
Defense
#27 Kyle Quincey — #6 Erik Johnson
#3 Ryan O`Byrne — #8 Jan Hejda
#44 Ryan Wilson — #5 Shane O`Brien
Goaltender
SEASON SERIES
12/27/11 – Colorado 1 – WINNIPEG 4 GWG: Evander Kane Tim Stapleton Winning Goalie: Ondrej Pavelec
LEADING SCORERS
WINNIPEG JETS
Blake Wheeler – 58GP – 11G – 31A – 42PTS
Evander Kane – 52GP – 21G – 15A – 36PTS
Kyle Wellwood – 58GP – 11G – 23A- 34PTS
COLORADO AVALANCHE
Ryan O’Reilly – 58GP – 15G – 29A – 44PTS
Paul Stastny – 56GP – 14G – 23A – 37PTS
Milan Hejduk – 59GP – 13G – 20A – 33PTS
Duchene is in,
Bogo is out.
Player to boo mercilessly: varlamov? Because there isn't much to hate otherwise.
Prediction: Winnipeg 4-1 Colorado
