Time: 7:00 pm CST
Channel: TSN
Radio: CJOB680/Power 97
After ending their longest losing streak of the season on Monday, the team will be hoping to show their fanbase that winning wasn’t just a unfunny April Fool’s prank. They will have their work cut out for them tonight, since they have dropped 5-3 & 6-3 contests to the Calgary Flames already this season.
The Winnipeg Jets will be without Nino Niederreiter as he recovers from a skate cut on his leg, so Tyler Toffoli will give the 3rd line a little scoring touch as he joins linemates Adam Lowry & Mason Appleton on the checking line. While that is interesting, the team really needs the top line of Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, & Gabriel Vilardi to control much more of the play if they want to be successful going forward.
Winnipeg currently has a 6 pt lead on the Nashville Predators for the Central’s 3rd spot and are trailing the 2nd place Colorado Avalanche by 4 pts with 7 games to play.
The Calgary Flames have had a disappointing season and are 16 points back of the West’s final wildcard spot, so are only playing for pride now. One thing the Flames and Jets have in common is that their only recent win has come against the LA Kings (both are 1-6 in their past 7 contests).
Tonight’s opponents have a few dangerous scorers on their roster, with Blake Coleman & Yegor Sharangovich scoring 29 goals and Nazim Kadri pocketing 24 this season. While goaltender Jacob Markstrom is still among the NHL’s better crease-watchers, his 2.74 GAA & .906 save percentage aren’t up to him normal standards.
It is with the usual trepidation that I await tonight’s clash against the Flames. Seems to me that the Jets have always had problems playing against Calgary’s style of play, so a much-needed victory tonight is far from a guarantee.
Let’s hear your thought/predictions for tonight’s game….with the recent home stand coming to an end and a 4 game road trip on the horizon, I am really hoping Winnipeg can start to string quality performances together as they gear up for the post-season.
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