Due to another hectic day at work today, this preview will be briefer than normal….as well as being posted much later. The Winnipeg Jets have gone to overtime in 5 of their last 6 contests, pulling out a 3-2 win on Tuesday over the Chicago Blackhawks to pull within 9 points of the Seattle Kraken & the Western Conference’s final wildcard spot. The Kraken had a chance to extend that last night against the St. Louis Blues, but a 3-2 loss has kept the deficit the same.
Tonight’s game at the Canada Life Centre in Manitoba will host two clubs at opposite ends of the NHL standings. The Tampa Bay Lightning have amassed 80 points to date, giving them the 5th best record which is vastly different than where the Winnipeg Jets 58 points puts them (27th).
The Lightning (38-17-4) are attempting to hold off the Buffalo Sabres for the Atlantic Division title, with a slim 2 point lead heading into tonight’s action. Everywhere you look the Bolts are putting up impressive numbers, with 210 Goals For (6th) and 158 Goals Against (2nd) amongst the best in the league. The 5 on 5 stats from MoneyPuck are just as nice, with the 4th best Expected Goals % rating, the 3rd best Corsi % ranting, and the 5th best Fenwick % rating.
The True Northers (24-26-10) sit in 6th place in the Central Division, a couple points up on the Chicago Blackhawks and a few up on the St. Louis Blues. Winnipeg has put up 171 Goals For (25th) and 186 Goals Against (t-13th), along with 5 on 5 stats placing the Jets 26th in Expected Goals %, 21st in Corsi %, and 23rd in Fenwick %.
Here is how the two clubs’ year-to-date stats compare, via ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers:
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Tampa’s Andrei Vasilevskiy is having an excellent season, with a +17 Goals Saved Above Expected rating (4th in NHL) and a solid .914 save %. Winnipeg’s Connor Hellebuyck hasn’t been quite as solid in his injury interrupted campaign, holding a +9.3 GSAE (16th) along with a .900 save %.
Here are the line up projections for both clubs via PuckPedia:
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
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TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING LINE UP
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The Lightning’s top scorers include Nikita Kucherov (96 pts), Jake Guentzel (64), Brandon Hagel (55), and Darren Raddysh (54).
The Jets only have 3 players producing in that range, Mark Scheifele (73 pts), Kyle Connor (68), and Gabriel Vilardi (52).
Doesn’t sound like any of Winnipeg’s injured players will return tonight….so time for the usual sign off.
Go Winnipeg Jets!!!!!
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POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Winnipeg Jets 4 Tampa Bay Lightning 1
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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all): WPG 4.30 TB 3.70
Expected Goals (5on5): WPG 2.67 TB 1.68
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BOJA’S Post-Game Thoughts:
The Winnipeg Jets won this game fairly easily since the Tampa Bay Lightning didn’t play like the top 5 NHL team there are. A solid performance by a patchwork line up…but the team is picking up points in the Standings when the fans really just want a great draft pick in June.
