With a 1-2 record on their current road trip and sitting a staggering seven points out of a playoff spot (despite being just 3 points out of 8th in the conference, plus a game in hand), the Jets take on the Nashville Predators tonight in Nashville.
While that may sound all doomy and gloomy, this game is actually a pretty important one. You see, it's Nashville that currently occupies the final wild card playoff spot in the Western Conference, so a win tonight puts the Jets right back in the thick of the playoff race. In addition, while the Jets are seven points out of the playoffs for the season, they're actually 8-4 with Connor Hellebuyck and his shockingly-not-crazy-because-it's-Hellbuyck .929 SV% in goal.
Bottom line: the Jets actually still have a decent shot at the playoffs (if continue to start Connor Hellebuyck) and this game could have pretty big playoff implications.
Projected Lineups
Winnipeg Jets
Drew Stafford – Bryan Little – Blake Wheeler
Andrew Ladd – Adam Lowry – Alexander Burmistrov
Mathieu Perreault – Mark Scheifele – Nikolaj Ehlers
Chris Thorburn – Andrew Copp – Joel Armia
Jacob Trouba – Dustin Byfuglien
Nashville Predators
Filip Forsberg – Mike Ribeiro – Craig Smith
Viktor Arvidsson – Colin Wilson – James Neal
Cody Hodgson – Mike Fisher – Calle Jarnkrok
