The Winnipeg Jets were able to end their 4 game losing streak and end the month of November with a win over the Nashville Predators. As the calendar flips over to December, the True Northers are preparing to face the Buffalo Sabres in New York state tonight, with a puck drop expected around 6:30 pm. If you were hoping to catch the action, I hope that you have a Prime membership or know a good streaming site.
Both the Jets (13-11-0) and Sabres (10-11-4) are coming into action on one game winning streaks, but the hometown club received some great news with their top center, Josh Norris, being available for the first time this season. Unfortunately, the True Northers didn’t get such luck, as both defenseman Neal Pionk & goalie Connor Hellebuyck remain out of the line up.
Buffalo has been mainly getting their scoring from the likes of Alex Tuch (22 pts), Tage Thompson (21), Josh Doan (16), Rasmus Dahlin (16), & Ryan McLeod (14). Although, the Sabres do get secondary production as well, with 10 players with a minimum of 9 points.
Winnipeg’s top 4 players have been performing very well, with Mark Scheifele (31 pts), Kyle Connor (29), Josh Morrissey (23), & Gabriel Vilardi (21) getting their names on scoresheets often. Besides Swiss Army knife Nino Niederreiter (15), the rest of the Jets’ skaters have been squeezing their sticks too hard.
Let’s continue our look at Winnipeg & Buffalo by checking out ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers for tonight’s late night game:
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The stats are fairly close across the board when you compare the Jets & Sabres…..except Winnipeg having more success on the powerplay. Buffalo’s 2nd best in the NHL penalty killers might be able to nullify that though.
From the sounds of it, doesn’t appear that coach Scott Arniel will be making any changes from the roster that won against the Preds, so rookie Elias Salomonsson will have to watch this one from the press box. 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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The Winnipeg Jets are currently holding the Western Conference’s final wildcard spot if you went by win percentage instead of actual points, while the Buffalo Sabres sit as the worst franchise in the East….though they are only 5 points out of a wildcard spot.
That is all I have time for during my lunch break….let me hear any pre-game thoughts you all might have in the Comment section below. Cheers.
Go Winnipeg!!!!!
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POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Buffalo Sabres 5 Winnipeg Jets 1
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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all): BUF 2.71 WPG 1.58
Expected Goals (5on5): BUF 2.11 WPG 1.38
Not that any of Winnipeg’s forward lines were good against Buffalo…but the 1st and 4th lines managed to win or break even in the xG battle. In terms of actual goals against, 2 went against the Scheifele trio and 2 against the Lowry unit.
By the end of the night, none of the Jets’ defenders finished above the break even mark in xG’s…but at least the Morrissey-DeMelo duo came close. The actual GA’s were split up with the regular duos each allowing one, and Miller-Schenn letting another in on their 1 shift together.
The Winnipeg Jets left Comrie out to dry in the 1st period and after that the level of attention I was giving the game was low. I did see that Milic would want the first goal that went by him back, but didn’t actually see the last one. Will have to check it out on the replay in the morning. Hard to judge tenders when the team is playing like that in front of them.
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BOJA’S Post-Game Thoughts:
I really don’t have any insights about the Jets-Sabres game…..other than it looked like one club was playing in slow motion all night. Unfortunately that was our team.
Where does Winnipeg go from here? I really don’t know, but am well aware that many Jets’ fans are pretty much calling the season a wash. But then I also remember that someone just mentioned the 2019 St. Louis Blues, who totally managed to turn their season around to eventually win the Cup.
Now, I am not suggesting that the last road is likely for this version of the True North franchise….but there could be a way back into playoff contention if the players are willing to put the effort they did last season. Yet even if the best case scenario plays out, I can’t see Winnipeg reaching a level anywhere near a true Stanley Cup contender. The loss of team speed & talent, mainly in the form of Nikolaj Ehlers, wasn’t replaced in the off-season and it cannot be found internally either, at least in the form of one player.
Yes, forwards like Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov, Brayden Yager, & Parker Ford could certainly change the dynamics if a few of them were promoted & sprinkled throughout the line up. But none of them can bring what Fly did to the Jets’ lineup by themselves. So, do you start swapping a couple veteran players for the prospects and see what happens? I will have to think on that, because the stats suggest it would be a good idea when it comes to Tanner Pearson….yet despite the lack of goal scoring occurring when he is on the ice, Gustav Nyquist is one of three Winnipeg forwards with a On Ice Expected Goals % rating above 50% at 5 on 5. Therefore I am undecided on that one…..going to have to wait and see what my dreams say. lol
As someone who regularly watches the Manitoba Moose and am enjoying their low scoring yet competitive style of hockey, I am not sure I want that disrupted. Which would potentially leave me watching two bad hockey teams instead of just one for the rest of the year. Though, Jacob Julien is nearing a return from his training camp injury, so it wouldn’t hurt to move one forward up from the AHL to make room.
Haven’t listened to Scott Arniel’s post-game interview yet….as I feel sorry for the guy having to face the press after that debacle. Will do so in the morning and also see if there are any hints on what, if anything, GM Kevin Cheveldayoff is going to do to try and save the season. In the end, it might be like Forget Teemu said in the comments….a high draft pick in the upcoming draft while trying to add speed & youth in the off-season. Unfortunately, even if Winnipeg become sellers at the deadline….they don’t have any pending UFAs that will draw anything worthwhile.
Sportsnet is reporting that the Jets’ players held a closed door meeting after the embarrassing performance they put on the ice tonight…guess it can’t hurt, but I’m not holding my breath.
