Last night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings started well enough, but then things started to fall apart a bit. Getting the puck out of their zone, along with suspect goaltending seemed to be the Jets’ kryptonite, as the Jets lost the game 5-2. On the plus side, Laine scored his first power play goal in what seemed like an eternity, after a strange bounce off the back boards. Perreault also scored keeping his hot play alive. Now I’d hate to seem like a downer, but the Jets’ seemed to lose both Byfuglien and Morrissey late in the game, so it’ll be interesting to see what remains of the defense corps going into the next game tonight.
Today’s opponent in the second game of the Jets’ back to back whirlwind trip thru California is against the Anaheim Ducks, who are recently coming off a 4-3 win over the surging Edmonton Oilers.
Paul Friesen of the Winnipeg Sun has a great article which looks at the state of the Winnipeg Jets in respect to their architect/ general manager.
Where: Honda Center, Anaheim, California
Who: Winnipeg Jets (33-34-7 for 73 pts) vs Anaheim Ducks (39-23-11 for 89 pts)
When: 9:00 pm CST
How: TSN3, TSN 1290, PRIME, 830 KLAA
Projected Lineups:
Winnipeg Jets:
Mathieu Perreault – Mark Scheifele – Blake Wheeler
Nikolaj Ehlers – Bryan Little- Patrik Laine
Andrew Copp – Adam Lowry – Joel Armia
Brandon Tanev – Nic Petan – Chris Thorburn
Julian Melchiori- Dustin Byfuglien*
Brian Strait – Josh Morrissey*
Mark Stuart – Nelson Nogier
Jacob Trouba
Connor Hellebuyck
Micheal Hutchinson
*Jacob Trouba is expected back in the lineup, and Brendan Kitchon was recalled, and not at a moment too soon, as both Morrissey and Byfugien left last night’s game. We’ll see which who suits up tonight.
*Enstrom (UBI), Myers (LBI), Pavelec (LBI), Postma (LBI), Matthias (UBI), Chariot (UBI), Dano (UBI/LBI).
Anaheim Ducks:
Rickard Rakell – Ryan Getzlaf – Patrick Eaves
Andrew Cogliano – Ryan Kesler – Jakob Silfverberg
Nick Ritchie – Antoine Vermette – Corey Perry
Chris Wagner – Nate Thompson – Jared Boll
Cam Fowler – Sami Vatanen
Hampus Lindholm – Josh Manson
Korbinian Holzer – Kevin Bieksa
Jonathan Bernier
Jhonas Enroth
Keys to the game:
Winnipeg Jets: No. More. Penalties.
Anaheim Ducks: Pedal to the metal.
3 Questions:
- Has Hellebuyck finally solidified the #1 goaltender position? I would say so nervously, but the team desperately needs a veteran to push him next year.
- Can the Winnipeg Jets manage to stay out of the penalty box? Why? Someone has to turn the hotdogs on the BBQ they have set up in there…and the franks are not going to eat themselves. (Buff, you’ve got mustard on your jersey…)
- What more can the Jets do? Keep it simple, get pucks out of the zone, and shoot the puck instead of trying to be cute (I’m looking at you, Ehlers).
Players to watch:
Winnipeg Jets: Petan, AKA Anchor Man.
Anaheim Ducks: Jonathan and Jhonas, the Backstop Boys.
Participants worthy of your rejection and unclean wordplay: Corey and Ryan
Prediction: Jets 3-2
