Despite dropping a game to the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday, the Winnipeg Jets actually gained some ground towards clinching the Central Division title because the Dallas Stars lost a pair of contests over the weekend. So that means the magic number is now at 4.
Things don’t get easy for the Jets with 5 games left on their schedule, as they will now have to face the National Hockey League’s hottest franchise. The St. Louis Blues have been lights out since the 4 Nations tournament concluded and enter Monday’s game at the Canada Life Centre on a 12 game winning streak. My recent review of the Stanley Cup contenders puts both Winnipeg & St. Louis near the top of the league in that respect, so it has the potential to be a very competitive match when the puck drops.
The Jets (52-21-4) have been a bit up & down over their past 5 matches….shutting out a couple teams and allowing only 1 goal against in a few wins, while struggling to score (1 GF) in a pair of losses. Yet, Winnipeg remains with the best record in the NHL and is trying to lock up the Central with a few more victories. A 3 point lead over the Stars gives the True Northers very little room for error, so a win tonight would be huge with Dallas next up on the schedule.
The Blues (43-28-7) have been unbeatable over their past 12 games and they have been playing incredibly defensively (allowed only 1 GA in 9 of those wins). Perhaps a sign that they can’t keep that shutdown hockey up forever, St. Louis has allowed 3 goals against in their past two contests. This hot streak has allowed the Blues to take hold of the first wildcard spot, but the Minnesota Wild have a fairly easy schedule left so the 2 point lead won’t hold up without continued victories by St. Louis.
Winnipeg is 2-1-0 in their three games against St. Louis this season, winning both matches on the road but dropping a 4-1 contest at the CLC.
Here is how PuckPedia is predicting the coaches to line up their players, though the pre-game skates haven’t occurred, so things definitely could change:
The Winnipeg Jets have a bunch of injuries to deal with and they should probably be without top forward Gabriel Vilardi and bottom sixer Rasmus Kupari. There is some hope that impact winger Nikolaj Ehlers will be back on the ice after missing the game versus Utah, as well as the possibility that defenseman Neal Pionk has reached game playing condition after practicing with the team for the past week.
The St. Louis Blues are not without their own bumps & bruises, with defenseman Torey Krug on LTIR and a bunch of other players with shorter term injuries: Dylan Holloway, Colton Parayko, & Alexandre Texier.
Here are how the season’s stats look when you compare the two franchises head-to-head, plus ESPN’s look at the masked men:
A big game for the team from the Peg….will Connor Hellebuyck get another start and more importantly, will the Jets actually show up to play when the game gets underway at 6:30 pm.
We’ve already heard from AIH member Karlitos with his prediction of a Winnipeg victory tonight, banking on the team rebounding from a bad outing like it has done a few times throughout this season….so feel free to add your voice in the Comment section below. I am fairly optimistic myself….but truly won’t be comfortable until the Jets have a 2 goal lead.
Go Winnipeg!!!!!!!
