Time: 3:00 pm CST
Channel: TSN
Radio: CJOB680/Power 97
Before I get on to discussing today’s game, I thought I would take a quick peek at what is happening in the NHL in general. When the dust settled on Friday’s hockey action, the Western Conference was officially down to the eight final playoff teams when the St. Louis Blues and Minnesota Wild were eliminated from contention (graphics courtesy of ESPN).
The final positioning of the teams hasn’t been determined yet, though the Dallas Stars do have a chance to lock up the top spot in the Central with a win today over the Seattle Kraken. In the Pacific, the Vancouver Canucks can’t exactly secure the #1 spot with a win over the Edmonton Oilers tonight, but it would be hugely beneficial and leave them needing only 1 pt in their final two contests (CGY/WPG).
There are possibilities of movement at the bottom of the playoff teams as well, with the Vegas Golden Knights jockeying with the Nashville Predators for wildcard positioning and with the Los Angeles Kings for 3rd place in the Pacific. The Kings have a 1 pt lead with 3 games to play on the Knights and also have the slightly easier remaining schedule (LA: Anaheim, Minnesota, Chicago & VEG: Colorado, Chicago, Anaheim). The Preds would need 3 pts in their last 2 matches to lock up the #7 spot if Vegas manages to win out and they have the Columbus Blue Jackets & Pittsburgh Penguins on tap.
And finally we get to our Winnipeg Jets and their race with the Colorado Avalanche for home-ice advantage in their upcoming playoff series. Obviously, this afternoon’s clash in Denver will go a long way to determining the home team, but with the Jets likely holding the first tie-breaker even a loss for Winnipeg wouldn’t kill dreams of starting the post-season at the Canada Life Centre. The Avs have three difficult contests to go, starting with the Jets and then ending with the Vegas Knights & Edmonton Oilers. Our squad doesn’t have an easy path, but after facing the Avalanche today they do get to play a non-playoff team (Seattle Kraken) before finishing the season against the Vancouver Canucks.
The Eastern Conference’s picture isn’t nearly as clear, with 11 franchises still in the hunt.
I won’t get into as much detail of this race, but as you can see from the standings there are possibilities for movement (Boston & Florida for top of Atlantic, NY Rangers & Carolina for 1st in the Metro, and a four team melee for the final wildcard spot). The Toronto Maple Leafs look likely to hold off the Tampa Bay Lightning, but that will still leave them with a difficult 1st round opponent.
Moving onto the Winnipeg Jets & Colorado Avalanche game this afternoon, here is how the franchises look statistically this season:
When updating the numbers from the Dallas Stars to the Avs, I noticed that the numbers were very similar. Colorado has a deadly offense & special teams like Winnipeg’s Thursday night opponent, but the Avalanche aren’t nearly as good defensively. The Jets held Dallas’ highly ranked powerplay off the board and the penalty killers will have another tough test this afternoon.
Both squads will be a bit short-handed on Saturday, with Winnipeg’s Nino Niederreiter (33 pts) and Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen (102 pts) battling injuries. While Nino has been ruled out, it sounds like Mikko is closer to a game time decision. Rick Bowness has two extremely hot goaltenders to choose from and it appears that he has tapped Connor Hellebuyck to start today. Here is Winnipeg’s projected line up for the match:
FORWARDS
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Ehlers-Monahan-Toffoli
Gustafsson-Lowry-Appleton
Barron-Namestnikov-Iafallo
DEFENSEMEN
Morrissey-Pionk
Dillon-DeMelo
Stanley-Samberg
GOALIES
Hellebuyck
Brossoit
After a very well-played game against Dallas, what Winnipeg Jets squad will show up today? Here is how the franchises have done over their past 5 contests:
Our boys have a chance to sweep the season series with Colorado and plant a nugget of doubt into their heads going into the playoff series, so lets hope the Peggers have their suffocating defense on display when the puck drops. Enjoy the hours before the game begins and try to relax….because we might be in for a few tense hours against the Avs.
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