Game Three Preview: Winnipeg Jets at Minnesota Wild

After two dominant performances of home ice, the Winnipeg Jets set out on the road to visit the Minnesota Wild, and Minnesota proved they can provide a whiteout of their own.

It just wasn’t the fan-created kind.

The Jets were diverted in their travels to Duluth on account of bad weather. Will this be an omen for the Jets? I guess we better tune in tonight to find out.

Minnesota is in must-win territory, and could ride their home crowd’s energy. The Jets need to keep on doing what they’ve been doing: go toe-to-toe with them physically early on, wear them out and put them away in the later periods.

Peace of cake, right?

Well, this being the Stanley Cup Playoffs, no...no it isn’t. But it is not unreasonable to think if the Jets are once allowed to play a high speed, strong forecheck, stronger checking game that they can’t put up the kind of performances that saw them double (or more) the shots on goal Minnesota managed in each of the first two games of the series.

Winnipeg has been dominant at home all year. The same hasn’t been quite as true on the road. The Jets are now 34-7-2 at Bell MTS Place this year. Their record away is 20-13-8. It’s not bad, but it’s not the lights out play they typically show on home ice.

The Jets have the opportunity to take a stranglehold on the series tonight. Will they?

Tale of the Tape

Goals:

Winnipeg 7

Minnesota 3

Power Play:

Winnipeg: 1/5, 20%

Minnesota: 1/5, 20%

Goaltending:

Hellebuyck: 0.921

Dubnyk: 0.917

Whiteouts:

Winnipeg: 2

Minnesota: 1

Prediction:

The Wild come out flying, but are unable to sustain their level of play and the Jets overwhelm them in the end.