What a busy Saturday for me today!! So many things I want to do, but not enough time to fit everything in. Of course sports are playing a big part of that, with the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers facing the Montreal Alouettes at 1 pm (Central), the NHL’s Winnipeg Jets clashing with the Pittsburgh Penguins at 2 pm, and then the Toronto Blue Jays looking to win Game 7 of the MLB World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers at 7 pm. And as if that wasn’t enough to have on tap….I also have to attend my nephew’s wedding at 3:30 pm.
Turning our focus to the True Northers’ contest for today against the visiting Penguins, the fans at the Canada Life Centre will be treated to a match between two of the league’s hottest franchises. Pittsburgh (8-2-2) has surprised a lot of people with their start to the campaign, as they look to bounce back from missing the post-season last year. Despite having some important players on the sidelines with injuries, Winnipeg (8-3-0) has managed to stay near the top of the NHL standings thanks to an easy schedule early on. Here are the best franchises to start the year, courtesy of ESPN:
*****
From the standings, we can see that the Jets & Penguins have had very similar beginnings to the year….but the underlying team & goaltending data from ESPN also are very comparable:
MATCH UP STATS
*****
As we can see above, the two hockey teams’ statistics are almost identical all the way across the board in the Team Stats graphic. The goals scored/allowed, the shots taken/given up, the penalty minutes received to date, and the powerplay numbers are all very close to each other. The only difference is a slight gap between Winnipeg’s penalty kill (91.1%) and Pittsburgh’s (81.6%). The commonality continues in the next graphic when you check out the masked men, as all four goaltenders are flirting with + .920 save percentages and have similar Goals Against Averages.
And to continue that same theme, the Jets & Penguins’ biggest stars are putting up nearly identical numbers:
Mark Scheifele (9G/9A/18 PTS) vs. Evgeni Malkin (3G/14A/17 PTS)
Kyle Connor (6G/9A/15 PTS) vs. Sidney Crosby (8G/7A/15 PTS)
As a result of all that, you could probably assume that today’s game should be a fairly evenly fought affair. Both clubs are picking up wins at a rate higher than expected based on their performances to date, with the Penguins holding a 47.35% Expected Goals % rating at 5 on 5 (23rd in NHL) and the Jets at 43.63% (31st in NHL). Those aren’t the numbers that elite squads put up….so both rosters are still searching for their optimal performances.
Because of the early afternoon start to the Jets/Penguins game, there won’t be any pre-game skate to verify the line ups from. So lets see how PuckPedia is predicting the lines for both teams based on yesterday’s practices:
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
*****
PITTSBURGH PENGUINS LINE UP
*****
With the injury to Gustav Nyquist and the fact that Adam Lowry isn’t quite ready to return, rookie Brad Lambert gets another opportunity at the big league level. It is also the expectation that backup goalie Eric Comrie will get his 3rd start of the year, while former Manitoba Moose goalie Arturs Silovs will be between the pipes for the opposition. Manitoba-born defenseman Owen Pickering will also get to play in his hometown province and that should see a bunch of people coming from St. Adolphe to watch him in action at the CLC.
Well, that is about all I have time for before I start prepping for my hectic Saturday. Enjoy the weekend everyone.
Go Winnipeg!!!!!
*****
POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Winnipeg Jets 5 Pittsburgh Penguins 2
*****
Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all): WPG 4.33 PIT 3.75
Expected Goals (5on5): WPG 3.44 PIT 2.93
*****
Since I only got to watch the opening period, my insights are probably not worth much for the Jets-Penguins match. I did get to see Winnipeg explode early on with goals from Gabriel Vilardi & Brad Lambert and it appears our team kept things rolling after that.
The stats say Eric Comrie (+1.72 GSAE & .933 sv%)) had another quality start in relief of Connor Hellebuyck, while the forward lines of Alex Iafallo, Jonathan Toews, & Vladislav Namestnikov (72.1% xG) and Tanner Pearson, Morgan Barron, & Nino Niederreiter (70.9% xG) appeared to have fantastic outings. On the defense end, the duo of Logan Stanley & Neal Pionk were apparently incredible versus Pittsburgh, with a 73.9% xG when playing at 5 on 5.
Saw some comments saying that they thought it was Brad Lambert’s best performance of the season, yet the numbers don’t entirely support that stance. The rookie had the 10th most xG’s for Jets’ forwards, but he did outdo his linemates so he was at least the most dangerous player on the 4th line, even if they lost the shots/scoring chances 8 to 3. Regardless, it was fantastic to see the kid net his first NHL goal and I hope that he can build on it.
Feel free to share your thoughts on the game in the Comments section to give me a better idea of who stood out on Saturday.
