The Winnipeg Jets (12-7-0) will be entering action tonight on a 2 game winning streak after downing the Calgary Flames & Columbus Blue Jackets. The franchise will be hoping their success against teams coming from places that start with the letter “C” can continue when the Carolina Hurricanes (13-5-2) visit the Canada Life Centre tonight. While the True Northers have been idle since Tuesday’s game, the Canes ended up losing an OT game to the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.
Of course, this game represents the first time Nikolaj Ehlers will be playing against the club that drafted him in 2014. After signing with the Hurricanes, the Danish forward initially struggled to find the scoresheet in his debut season, but has since picked up the pace for 13 pts in 20 games (tied for 4th on the team).
Carolina has been one of the NHL’s best teams in the early part of the campaign, currently sitting with the 3rd best record, the 3rd best Actual Goals % at 5 on 5 (58.62%), the 2nd best Expected Goals % at 5 on 5 (58.09%), and being the #1 club in the league when it comes to Corsi & Fenwick (shot attempts/shots on net). That means the Canes deserve to sit near the top of the NHL and they shouldn’t be taken lightly.
Winnipeg on the other hand finds themselves in a massive tie for the 11th best record in the NHL with 8 other franchises and has the 9th best Actual Goals % (52.7%). Which are pretty good when you consider their Expected Goals (44.71%), Corsi, & Fenwick numbers at 5 on 5 are in the bottom 5 of the league.
So the data doesn’t offer a lot of hope for the Jets tonight….yet our club hasn’t been fully healthy until now and actually somewhat resembled last year’s President Trophy winning team in their win over the Blue Jackets.
Let’s continue our look at Winnipeg & Carolina by checking out ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers for tonight’s late night game (yet another 9:00 pm Central start):
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According to the stats above, both Carolina & Winnipeg are getting & allowing goals at around the same pace. The differences pop up in other categories, where the Hurricanes hold the edge in the shots numbers while the Jets have received better play from their special teams.
Since Frederik Andersen played in the most recent loss to the Wild, I am guessing our team will have to deal with Pyotr Kochetkov…and as you can see from his stat line, the Russian keeper has been on the top of his game. Eric Comrie improved his record this year to 4-1-0 in the True Northers’ last contest and it appears that he will be back in net tonight as news just broke that Connor Hellebuyck has undergone a surgical procedure on his knee and will be on the shelf for 4 to 6 weeks.
Time to check out how PuckPedia is predicting the clubs to line up tonight (7 PM Central):
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
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CAROLINA HURRICANES LINE UP
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Wow….I am still just taking in the fact that Bucky will be out of the line up for a while. Going to post this as is, but may add some more thoughts later in the day.
Go Winnipeg!!!!!
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POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Carolina Hurricanes 4 Winnipeg Jets 3
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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all): WPG 2.82 CAR 2.56
Expected Goals (5on5): WPG 2.49 CAR 1.09
The line blender was in effect tonight, with 8 forward lines getting at least 2 minutes of playing time at 5 on 5. A good game from the top line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, & Gabriel Vilardi, getting the majority of scoring chances while out-scoring the Canes 1-0. After that, the consistency wasn’t there unless Adam Lowry or Nino Niederreiter were on the lines.
The top 2 pairings did most of the heavy lifting, as the coaching staff decided to do their best to shelter lumbering defensemen Logan Stanley & Luke Schenn for Carolina’s speed (just over 10 minutes each). The Josh Morrissey-Dylan DeMelo duo did very well, outscoring the opposition 2-0 while peppering the opponent’s goalie with shots. The Dylan Samberg-Neal Pionk pairing played fairly well, but they unfortunately gave up that goal in the opening minute of play.
Not exactly the game you want to see from Eric Comrie after hearing that Connor Hellebuyck will be on the sidelines for 4 to 6 weeks. He wasn’t horrible, but the Jets are always going to need better than a .857 save percentage.
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BOJA’S Post-Game Thoughts:
Think I will add my post-game thoughts on Saturday morning. Will give me time to re-watch some of the game I ended up missing due to an unexpected distraction before jumping to any conclusions.
