Time: 7:00 PM CST
Channel: TSN3, MSG-B
Radio: TSN1290
With the Buffalo Sabres (10-21-9) having played last night in a lop-sided 6-2 loss in Minnesota, it looks as though the team with the second worst record could be prime for another blowout at the hands of the Winnipeg Jets (23-11-7).
In the first of two matches between these teams this season, Winnipeg will look to continue their dominance at Bell MTS Place, where they hold a record of 14-3-1 this season. The Sabres road record of 5-11-6 is also indicative of a potential easy win for the Jets.
Which has me nervous.
The Jets are officially at the halfway point of their 2017-2018 schedule, and it’s never too soon to talk about how important points are. In short, these are points the Jets cannot afford to lose, because if everybody else (including Minnesota last night) is beating this team, you need to too just to keep pace.
The Jets are coming off of Tuesday’s overtime loss to Colorado, in which Blake Wheeler netted two goals before Erik Johnson sent the Jets home with one point. Wheeler has four goals and two assists in his last four games.
Winnipeg can regain top spot in the Central Division with a win tonight.
Will Buffalo stampede the Jets?
Will Winnipeg show the Sabres the meaning behind Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump?
Tune in this evening! Same Jets time (7:00 PM CST), Same Jets channel (TSN 3)!
Winnipeg Jets: 23-11-7
Stat Leaders:
Goals: Patrik Laine (18)
Assists: Blake Wheeler (34)
Points: Wheeler (47)
Goalie Stat Leaders:
Wins: Connor Hellebuyck (21)
Goals Against Average: Hellebuyck (2.38)
Save Percentage: Hellebuyck (.922)
Minutes: Hellebuyck (1,914)
Special Teams: PP 24.2% (4th), PK 81.0% (17th)
Buffalo Sabres: 10-21-9
Stat Leaders:
Goals: Evander Kane (16)
Assists: Jack Eichel (20)
Points: Kane, Eichel (35)
Goalie Stat Leaders:
Wins: Robin Lehner (9)
Goals Against Average: Lehner (2.90)
Save Percentage: Lehner (.911)
Minutes: Lehner (1,698)
Special Teams: PP 12.4% (30th), PK 81.1% (15th)
Winnipeg Jets
FORWARDS
81 Kyle Connor/ 26 Blake Wheeler / 29 Patrik Laine
85 Mathieu Perreault/ 18 Bryan Little/ 27 Nikolaj Ehlers
9 Andrew Copp/ 17 Adam Lowry/ 40 Joel Armia
16 Shawn Matthias/ 15 Matt Hendricks/ 56 Marko Dano
DEFENCE
44 Josh Morrissey/ 8 Jacob Trouba
7 Ben Chiarot/ 33 Dustin Byfuglien
5 Dmitry Kulikov/ 57 Tyler Myers
STARTING GOALIE
37 Connor Hellebuyck
Riding the pine: 35 Steve Mason
Scratched: 52 Jack Roslovic, 3 Tucker Poolman
Injured: 39 Toby Enstrom (lower body, ETA Late January) , 55 Mark Scheifele (upper body, 6-8 weeks), 13 Brandon Tanev (lower body, 1-2 weeks)
Buffalo Sabres
FORWARDS
28 Zemgus Girgensons — 15 Jack Eichel — 23 Sam Reinhart
9 Evander Kane — 90 Ryan O’Reilly — 21 Kyle Okposo
67 Benoit Pouliot — 71 Evan Rodrigues — 29 Jason Pominville
22 Johan Larsson — 10 Jacob Josefson — 17 Jordan Nolan
DEFENCE
6 Marco Scandella — 55 Rasmus Ristolainen
19 Jake McCabe — 47 Zach Bogosian
82 Nathan Beaulieu — 41 Justin Falk
STARTING GOALIE
31 Chad Johnson
Riding the pine: 40 Robin Lehner
Scratched: 20 Scott Wilson, 4 Josh Gorges
Injured: 93 Victor Antipin (day-to-day, illness), 27 Taylor Fedun (lower-body, 6-8 weeks from November 16)
