Winnipeg Jets vs Pittsburgh Penguins

On Monday, the Winnipeg Jets came out swinging against the San Jose Sharks, and stood toe to toe with their opponents thru out the first and the second periods. But a soft pass by Wpg’s Laine on the power play was intercepted and resulted in a short handed goal by SJ’s Boedker just over 7 minutes into the third period. It was a heartbreaker! Late in the third, with the Jets net empty, SJ went on to score again, giving them a 3-1 lead, and finally resulted in a 3-2 win and 2 precious points escaping the Jets...

Today’s opponent is the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are coming off a 4-3 win against the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday night...

NHL.com

Who: Winnipeg Jets (30-31-6 for 66 pts) vs Pittsburgh Penguins (40-16-8 for 88 pts)

When: 7:00 pm CST

How: SN, TSN1290, ROOT, 105.9 TheX

Projected Lineups:

Winnipeg Jets:

Ehlers - Scheifele - Laine

Perreault - Little- Wheeler

Matthias - Lowry - Armia

Dano - Copp - Thorburn

Enstrom - Byfuglien

Morrissey - Trouba

Chariot - Postma

Hellebuyck

Hutchinson

Pittsburgh Penguins:

Kunitz - Crosby - Sheary

Hagelin - Malkin - Kessel

Guentzel - Bonino - Hornqvist

Kuhnhackl - Cullen - Wilson

Dumoulin - Schultz

Streit - Hainsey

Cole - Ruhlwedel

Murray

Fleury

Keys to the game:

Winnipeg Jets: Keep up the pace, puck possession, and player positioning.

Pittsburgh Penquins: Focus on the defensive part of their game.

3 Questions:

1. Has Hellebuyck finally solidified the #1 goaltender position? Yes.
2. Can the Winnipeg Jets manage to stay out of the penalty box? Despite what some may call “poor officiating”, Big Buff found his way into the penalty box twice during the SJ game. The other two penalties were for hand on puck by Enstrom (after he blocked the shot with said hand...ouch!) and Thorburn for sweater stretching.
3. What more can the Jets do? It all seems to be coming together at the most critical time, so the best thing the Jets can do is focus on the little things.

Players to watch:

Winnipeg Jets: Wheeler skates and plays like a man possessed, but he can’t do it all alone.

Pittsburgh Penquins: Crosby has skill to burn, but he can’t do it all alone.

Prediction: Jets 3-2