Time: 8:00 pm CST
Channel: TSN
Radio: CJOB680/Power 97
With the bad taste of six straight losses in the Winnipeg Jets’ mouths, they are preparing to face off against the Los Angeles Kings on Monday evening. Those lost points have resulted in the Jets now being in a tie with the Edmonton Oilers for the 8th best record in the NHL, while the Kings have dropped 2 straight contests and are now sitting in 14th.
Former Jet Pierre Luc Dubois will be back in the city with his new team, but the forward has definitely struggled since signing his new big money deal. At this point of the season, PLD has played as many games for the Kings as he did for the Jets in his last season. The results are fairly startling, with Dubois currently having 15 goals & 20 assists for 35 points in 73 games (.479 pts/gm). The same number of matches last season while wearing a Winnipeg jersey saw him finish with 27 goals & 36 assists for 63 points (.863 pts/gm), a whopping 28 point reduction. The main piece coming to the Peg in the trade was Gabriel Vilardi and while forward has had to deal with a couple of injuries, he has amassed 16 goals and 30 points in 39 matches this season (.769 pts/gm).
Since Winnipeg’s management/coaches/players can’t figure a way to get the Jets playing great again, AIH members SaskatoonJet and Padre have made the journey from Saskatchewan to straighten the boys out themselves. Their presence at the Canada Life Centre will serve the franchise a notice that we won’t be accepting anymore half-ass efforts in their remaining games. Talk about commitment….driving 8 hours from our neighbouring province to support their Jets in person. That should spark Winnipeg’s skaters to make their own commitment and play head coach Rick Bowness’ system properly.
When I delve into the two teams’ statistics, it does increase my anxiety about tonight’s contest. The first worrisome thing to pop out is that both squads are putting up similar numbers in the top 4 categories, while the second item is the glaring differences in special teams (I know us Jets fans aren’t familiar with what excellent PP & PK numbers look like, but let me assure you that LA’s are right up there).
After some initial troubles in net, Los Angeles’ goaltenders have seemed to settle down and both Cam Talbot (23-17-6, 2.44 GAA, .916%) and former Jet David Rittich (11-6-3, 2.26 GAA, .918%) have put up above average numbers.
When you put all that together, it leads me to believe that the Kings will prove difficult to score on and that is something that our offensively-challenged Jets could live without. Relying solely on the stats, I don’t think we should expect Winnipeg to win the special teams battle, so hopefully they can stay out of the sin bin and play the majority of the game at even strength.
Go Jets!! I’m pulling out all my Winnipeg memorabilia for the Kings’ game, including one of the 2018 We Are Winnipeg playoff towels. Need all the voodoo we can get to right the ship…or should I say plane?
Perhaps some of our members can cheer me up with a more optimistic outlook? Let’s hear your thoughts, fears, and hopes for tonight’s clash in the comments’ section below.
Looking for an easy way to support Arctic Ice Hockey Use our Affiliate Link when shopping hockey merch this holiday season!
