After back to back convincing victories against divisional opponents, the Winnipeg Jets will face off against the Arizona Coyotes. The Jets continue to roll and a berth in the playoffs is progressively becomes more likely. According to Sports Club Stats, ahead of tonights contest the Winnipeg Jets are slated at a 84.8% chance of making the playoffs. Meanwhile on the other side of the ice, things are not as pleasant. The Coyotes look to rebound from a 3-1 defeat to the Wild when they face the Jets tonight. The Coyotes have been snake bitten on the road as of late, loosing five of there last six road games.
You can catch all the action between the Jets and the Coyotes on CITY TV. You can also catch all the action by listening to TSN 1290 radio.
Keys to the Game
Winnipeg Jets
Life without Perreault. After being the recipient of a rather dirty cross-check, it looks as though forward Matthieu Perreault will be on the shelf for quite some time. Thankfully, Perreault did not break or fracture anything and it seems as thought he wont miss an extended period of time. It wont be easy for the Jets to fill the void of there red hot forward. Perreault has 21 points in his last 20 games and he has been a focal point to the Jets success.
Don’t Hang Your Goalie Out To Dry. The Jets endured an exhausting, yet rewarding 48 hours when they won back to back games against central division rivals the Dallas Stars and the Chicago Blackhawks. While fatigue can play a huge factor in back to backs, you cant leave your goalie out to dry. Ondrej Pavelec carried the Jets to a 2-1 win against the Stars with a 46 save performance without a lot of help from the guys in front of him. The Jets are now rested and no excuses will warrant the team leaving there goaltender to dry, they cant win games like that.
Arizona Coyotes
Time To Get Back On Track. As the Yotes are in the middle of a four game loosing streak, they need to find a way to get in the win column tonight against the Jets, somehow. This year has been one to forget for the Yotes and as management has recently begun to embrace a full blown rebuild, the Yotes are in the basement of the Western Conference. Tonight they have a chance to stop the bleeding against a red hot Winnipeg Jets squad.
By The Numbers
26th in goals per game ( 2.23)
27th in goals allowed per game ( 3.27)
7th best power play ( 21.7%)
27th ranked penalty kill (75.3%)
24th in shots per game ( 28.8)
25th in shots allowed per game ( 31.7)
5th best faceoff percentage ( 52.9%)
Player to Boo Mercilessly
Mike Smith– He is nowhere near the goalie he used to be and has produced horrible numbers to back it up. He currently possess the most losses for a goalie accompanied by a .887 SV% and a 3.45 GAA.
Prediction
Jets 4
Coyotes 2
