Will the Winnipeg Jets ever win another game? Guess we will have to keep tuning in to find out…but the team keeps finding ways to lose even when the statistical information suggest that they shouldn’t.
After blowing a big lead in their last outing versus the Toronto Maple Leafs, the hockey team will head to the nation’s capital for a match against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday evening. The True Northers are in the midst of an 8 game losing streak that has seen the franchise plummet to the bottom of the NHL standings (34 pts). The Sens just ended a 3 game skid on January 1st when they squeaked out a win over the Washington Capitals to improve to 43 pts on the year and will be looking to work their way back into an Eastern Conference wildcard spot.
The Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa will see the 21st overall Senators (19-15-5) competing against the 32nd overall Jets (15-20-4) when the action gets underway. Winnipeg will enter the game as the 26th best scoring team in the NHL (113 goals for) and in a tie for 15th best defensive club (122 goals against). The local club holds the 13th best offense (129 goals for) and the 19th best defense (127 goals against). With neither the Senators or Jets in a playoff spot currently, the franchises will need to make up ground in the second half of the season if they hope to extend their seasons. The Sens might have the 2nd worst record in the Eastern Conference, but since they are only 3 points behind the 8th place Buffalo Sabres the post-season dreams haven’t been dashed yet. Of course, our Jets are in a tougher position, with the gap now widening to 9 points behind the San Jose Sharks.
Tonight’s 6:00 pm Central game will feature teams putting up the following stats, via ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers:
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The team stats above tell me that Ottawa’s offensive abilities should be a concern for Winnipeg’s coaching staff. With advantages over the Jets at even strength & on the powerplay, our club will need to play much better defensively than they did against Toronto.
The Senators have the 8th best powerplay in the NHL, while deploying the 31st most effective penalty kill. The Jets’ man advantage units started off the year well, but have since dropped to 16th in the league. While the True Northers’ PKers have hovered around the middle of the NHL for most of the season, currently landing in the 19th spot.
Pre-game skate today is at 10:30 am…so we will have to rely on how PuckPedia is currently predicting the players to line up:
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
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OTTAWA SENATORS LINE UP
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Think I might be getting sick, so not going to bother waiting for the pre-game skate information to see what changes Winnipeg & Ottawa may make to the above line ups. For sure, Connor Hellebuyck will be returning to the crease after a nightmare performance by Eric Comrie versus the Leafs. Defenseman Colin Miller rarely gets a run of games with the starters, so he may also come out for Luke Schenn and I don’t think Nino Niederreiter will remain a healthy scratch for long. So I do expect to see some changes after I wake up from a nap. Running out of steam….so time to see if a little sleep will improve how I feel.
Go Winnipeg Jets!!!!!
PS: The Manitoba Moose ended up taking advantage of the Elias Salomonsson bobblehead game as they skated to a 4-1 win over the defending Calder Cup Champion Abbotsford Canucks. The young Swedish defenseman got involved offensively with a primary assist on Mason Shaw’s opening goal. The veteran just returned to the line up after representing Canada at the Spengler Cup and made an impact as his unit scored a pair of Moose goals (other one by David Gustafsson). One other memorable play from the game saw struggling Colby Barlow float a perfect pass past a Canucks’ defenseman to spring Parker Ford on a breakaway that helped Manitoba to a 2-0 lead going into the 1st intermission. Goalie Thomas Milic was also strong in net as he turned aside 22 of 23 shots he faced (.957%).
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POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Ottawa Senators 4 Winnipeg Jets 2
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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all): OTT 3.15 WPG 2.67
Expected Goals (5on5): WPG 2.10 OTT 1.28
Weird breakdown with 2 of the 7 lines that played at least 3:30 together getting totally killed in the xG battle, while the rest won fairly easily.
On defense, only the Morrissey–DeMelo pairing won the offensive battle.
Another negative GSAE rating for Hellebuyck.
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BOJA’S Post-Game Thoughts:
No thoughts from me on the game because I never saw it…..did enjoy watching the replay of Logan Stanley popping the pudgy cheeked Brady Tkachuk though.
