The Winnipeg Jets have returned home for a game against the Buffalo Sabres on Friday night, before they get back on an airplane to fly to Alberta for a clash versus the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
Just a handful of games ago, the Sabres handed the Jets one of their most embarrassing losses in recent history…yet they didn’t manage to carry the momentum in their next game against the Philadelphia Flyers, limping away with a 5-2 loss. Winnipeg on the other hand, did get slightly better results in a game of pond hockey versus the Montreal Canadiens, picking up a loser point after a shoot out loss.
If I tried to create a tag line for tonight’s game at the Canada Life Centre (6 pm Central start) like the great one used for the Ali-Frazier fight, Thrilla in Manilla……probably all I could come up with is the Battle of the Basement. The 5th last placed Sabres and the 7th last placed Jets doesn’t bring the excitement that Muhammad & Joe, but us True North fans will be satisfied with an evenly fought contest after the fiasco we witnessed on Monday.
In a bit of a rush once again today, so lets jump to a look at Winnipeg & Montreal’s seasons by checking out ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers:
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From everything I have read, it seems like coach Scott Arniel won’t be making any changes from the roster that faced the Habs. On the injury front, both goalie Connor Hellebuyck & defenseman Haydn Fleury have resumed skating, though they are still not close to a return. Bucky will be slowly increasing what he does on the ice as he returns from surgery, while Fleury could not do any activities while he was recovering from a concussion, so he’ll need a stretch to get back into game shape.
Here is how PuckPedia has the predicted line ups for tonight’s clash:
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
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BUFFALO SABRES LINE UP
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Great news that Elias Salomonsson remains in the line up, but very much not a fan of keeping Tanner Pearson on the 4th line. Gustav Nyquist doesn’t make the same number of mistakes and is a much better option, even if neither has helped out much offensively this year. Can Eric Comrie stand on his head in back-to-back games? Sounds like he’ll get the start, so that should mean that Thomas Milic is going to have to face the likes of Connor McDavid & Leon Draisaitl on Hockey Night in Canada.
Remember when you looked forward to watching a Jets’ game? Those were good times.
Go Winnipeg!!!!!
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POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Winnipeg Jets 4 Buffalo Sabres 1
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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all): BUF 5.03 WPG 2.81
Expected Goals (5on5): BUF 2.68 WPG 1.85
The top 4 lines above had at least 7 minutes of 5 on 5 playing time, which included the unit that had Toews on the wing. Glad to see that coach Arniel finally got around to reading my article where I suggested that. That trio came close to breaking even in the xG battle and looked much better than before Lowry joined. The 4th line still lost the xG race, but out-scoring the opposition 2 to 0 at even strength will be taken any time.
Ugly defensive numbers, with no pairing coming close to breaking even. Despite Winnipeg scoring 3 goals at even strength, only 1 of those came with a regular defensive pairing (Morrissey-DeMelo).
Comrie was amazing once again. Coming off a Habs’ game where the tender had a +2.36 GSAE rating, Eric outdid himself tonight versus the Sabres with an impressive +3.59. The Jets’ back up has stopped 63 of 66 shots on net in his last two starts….that is a .955 save percentage.
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BOJA’S Post-Game Thoughts:
The Winnipeg Jets picked up a valuable 2 points on Friday evening, as some secondary scoring from a surprising place finally showed up to help our club steal a win. On the back of Eric Comrie’s extremely strong play in the pipes and some timely scoring by Tanner Pearson & Cole Koepke, the True Northers have slipped back into the Western Conference’s final wild card spot with 29 pts on the season.
Other positives besides a hot goalie & some secondary scoring, the Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, & Gabriel Vilardi trio continue to light red lamps with frequency. Winnipeg’s top line is on pace to possibly set a record for 5 on 5 goal scoring…at least the 78 to 79 goal pace they are on hasn’t been done in the past 10 season.
On the negative side of the coin, the Jets’ players must think they are bakers….because they are making so many turnovers. Okay, Dad joke aside, the number of high danger looks for Buffalo tonight was unacceptable, as Winnipeg lost that battle 6 to 1 in the game. Most of those came on failed zone exits by the Jets, something that has become a bit of a habit for our club this year. When you see a shot chart & expected goal stats like those above…..the team on the wrong side loses more often that not. So still lots of work for the team to do before I start believing they have a good chance at winning every time they step on the ice.
Late night game on Saturday night versus the Edmonton Oilers….a club that has been very good at scoring goals and allowing them to go in against their tenders. Hopefully the presumed starter, Thomas Milic, will be able to follow Comrie’s lead and channel his inner-Bucky to give the Jets a chance to get a winning streak going.
