The Winnipeg Jets have returned from a four game East Coast road trip with a mediocre 2-2-0 record after dropping their final contest to the Carolina Hurricanes. The 4-2 loss saw the True Northers struggle with the Canes’ overall speed throughout the contest, resulting in Logan Stanley making a pair of poor decisions that helped the opposition to take an early lead that they never relinquished.
Winnipeg (44-17-4) will look to get back on track this evening when the New York Rangers visit the Canada Life Centre and that will allow the Jets to insert new defenseman Luke Schenn into the lineup for the first time. The veteran will bring a level of physicality and experience to Winnipeg’s defensive core, as he is the only current Jets’ skater with a Stanley Cup ring. Now, who exactly who will come out to make that happen is unknown at this time, with the pre-game skate at least an hour away. My guess is that the coaching staff will puzzlingly send Colin Miller to the press-box…even though he is far from the Jets’ worst defenseman. Guess we will have to wait & see….
New York (31-27-6) has seen their season go a direction they did not expect. Just a season removed from a President’s Trophy win for the NHL’s best regular season record (114 pts), the Blueshirts find themselves holding onto the 19th spot and chasing the East’s final wildcard spot by 2 points. The Rangers are currently on a 3 game skid, including a 7-3 blowout by the Columbus Blue Jackets in their most recent contest, and have been hindered by injuries to key players like forward Chris Kreider & defenseman Adam Fox.
Here is what PuckPedia has for their predictions of the Jets & Rangers’ starting lineups at this point in time:
When I briefly scan Arctic Ice Hockey’s Match Up & ESPN’s Goaltender Comparison graphics, I see that both franchises are very capable at scoring goals with an average north of 3 per game, but it is Winnipeg that has proven to be more adept at keeping pucks out of their net. Part of that is due to a bit of down season by New York’s Igor Shesterkin (.905%) and the fantastic year Connor Hellebuyck (.926%) is having in between the pipes. While the Jets clearly have the more successful powerplay units, the Rangers have been very strong at killing off penalties (3rd best in NHL).
Alright, now that you have all the information….time for the AIH members to put on their tinfoil hats (or whatever medium helps) to conjure up their predictions for how this game will play out.
Will Winnipeg get a surprising goal scorer against the Rangers…..like Morgan Barron, Cole Perfetti, or Vladislav Namestnikov? Can the powerplay find a way to get back to a potential NHL record 33% success rate? Will the insertion of Luke Schenn improve the Jets’ defense or just make it slower?
If you are a Manitoban-based Winnipeg Jets fan….try to stay warm as it appears that winter is making one last push in an attempt to keep it’s six month domination over the sun going. Fortunately it seems like the blazing orb in the sky will win out since positive temperatures are predicted for the next 3 days.
Go Winnipeg!!!!!!!
