Tonight is a big night for the Winnipeg Jets. The Jets will face off against a Minnesota Wild team that has caught fire as of late and is slowly creeping up behind the Jets in the standings. With a win tonight, not only will the Jets collect two crucial points, they will prevent the Wild from gaining traction.
The Jets are slowly starting to pick up the pieces after loosing six straight games coming out of the all star break. Their last outing was a convincing victory over the Colorado Avalanche. The Wild are slowly becoming the talk of the NHL, thanks in large part due to the spectacular and surprising performance from goaltender Devan Dubnyk.
Keys to the Game
Winnipeg Jets
Take Advantage Of The Wild. The Wild will be entering tonight's game on the second night of back-to-back games. Meanwhile, the Jets are in the midst of a three game home stand and have been rested since Sunday. The Jets have to take advantage of their fresh legs and of a Wild squad that could be flat-footed.
More Scheif, Please. Mark Scheifele has been relatively quiet this season, enduring somewhat of a sophomore slump. Except as of late, Scheifele has become very noticeable. Scheifele has 4 points in his last 6 games and has worked very well with Mathieu Perreault and Dustin Byfuglien on his wings. The Jets need Scheifele to continue his strong play.
Minnesota Wild
Health Issues.
Last night in a game against the Canucks, Wild forwards Jason Zucker and Ryan Carter both suffered upper body injuries.
Yeo says Zucker and Carter have upper body injuries. “We should not expect them back in the lineup in the near future.” #mnwild
— Michael Russo (@Russostrib) February 10, 2015
This amounts to bad timing for a Wild team that could struggle to call in reinforcements. This tired Wild squad could become even more tired.
By The Numbers.
– 26-20-6 record
– 15th in goals per game ( 2.73)
– 20th in goals allowed per game ( 2.71)
– 26th ranked power play ( 16.0%)
– 5th ranked penalty kill ( 84.6%)
– 4th most shots per game ( 31.9)
– Least amount of shots allowed per game ( 26.8)
– 15th ranked faceoff percentage ( 50.0%)
Player to Boo Mercilessly
Ryan Suter. You will have to Boo for a while, the guy is always on the ice. Suter is on the ice for roughly 29 minutes per game.
Prediction
Winnipeg 3
Minnesota 1
