The Winnipeg Jets can’t seem to catch a break. Two wins against the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Florida Panthers had the Jets feeling pretty good about themselves…then the wheels came off the bus in Buffalo. Trois unanswered, jumbled, and scrambled goals by the Buffalo Sabres led to a loss for the Jets, who now sit at 19-20-3 on the season. In tandem, the crushing loss of Patrik Laine to a concussion late in the Buffalo game have the Jets going forward without their rookie goal-scoring phenom.
Laine’s points will have to be made up elsewhere as he recuperates, as the Jets look to get back on track against the Calgary Flames, who are 22-18-2 on the season. The Flames are coming off a 3-1 home win against their perennial pacific division rivals in the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night, a rebound win for the Flames as they were coming back from a 4-2 loss to the Canucks in Vancouver the night before.
Where: The Phone Booth, in snowy and cold Winnipeg, Manitoba
Who: The Winnipeg Jets vs The Calgary Flames
When: 7:00 pm CST (8:00 pm EST, 8:30 pm in Newfoundland)
How: Sportsnet West, TSN3, Sportsnet 960 The Fan, TSN 1290
Winnipeg Jets Projected Lineup:
Ehlers – Scheifele – Stafford
Perreault – Little – Wheeler
Matthias – Lowry – Armia
Copp – Petan – Thorburn
Morrissey – Byfuglien
Enstrom – Trouba
Chariot – Postma
Hellebuyck
Hutchinson
Calgary Flames Projected Lineup:
Gaudreau – Monahan – Chaisson
Tkachuk – Backlund – Frolik
Versteeg – Bennett – Ferland
Hamilton – Stajan – Hathaway
Giordano – Hamilton
Brodie – Wideman
Jokipakka – Engelland
Johnson
Elliott
Participant worthy of your rejection and unclean wordplay: Keith’s kid.
Keeping their eyes on the prize prediction: The Winnipeg Jets will hopefully rebound and win 3-2, resulting in the release of the sacred herd of purple unicorns and 6 non-stop hours of rainbow colored fireworks from atop of the arena, while the Snowbirds fly their tudor jets in perfect formation around Winnipeg to a blaring soundtrack performed by The Guess Who and Rush…and If the Jets lose, you can expect Paul Maurice to explode, so consider this your warning to remain indoors and break out the emergency provisions just in case. There could be little bits of PoMo re-entering the atmosphere in a fiery, cataclysmic asteroid storm, making the dinosaur extinction event look weak and pathetic. As for the the fans at the game, they’ll be locked in the arena, where each section will choose a combatant and compete in a gladiator style, last person standing, winner take all death match. The victorious combatant’s section will then receive all the left over, sweaty Jumbo Jet dogs and flat diet root beer. Good luck!
(Update – in an odd turn of events, it appears that I’m attending tonight’s game, so pray for a Jets win. If not, pray for me!)
