The Winnipeg Jets are coming off one of their worst outings of the season with a flat performance against the Utah Hockey Club on Monday. That game not only saw captain Adam Lowry leave early with an injury, but the effort displayed by the Jets’ skaters in the loss brought on the ire of head coach Scott Arniel and speedy winger Nikolaj Ehlers in their post-game pressers. Lets see if any of that sunk in for tonight’s contest against the Colorado Avalanche….
Winnipeg (31-14-3) is coming in with losses in their last two outings and have only scored a total of 5 goals in their past 3 games. So the NHL’s highest scoring franchise is not exactly firing on all cylinders at this time. Another late pre-game skate (12:30 pm Central) means that I really don’t have any clarity on how the Jets will deploy their players against their Central Division rivals, so we will have to wait a bit for clarity on the status of players like the previously mentioned Lowry and Mason Appleton.
Colorado (28-19-1) has struggled with consistent efforts from game to game this season and that pattern has continued recently with the Avs alternating between wins & losses in their last 10 contests. Unfortunately for Jets’ fans, the Avalanche were on the wrong side of a 3-1 decision to the Minnesota Wild on Monday so if the home team keeps it up they should expect a win tonight. When it comes to the lineup for Colorado, they will be without injured players like Valeri Nichushkin, Gabriel Landeskog, & Miles Wood, but still have plenty of fire power to pounce on any Jets’ defensive miscues.
As of 10:30 am, here is how PuckPedia is predicting the coaches will lineup their players:


As I am running a bit behind this morning, I will emulate our favourite hockey club’s most recent performance by putting a half-hearted effort into the rest of the preview. Check out the graphics below to see how the Avalanche & Jets compare based on their season stats, as well as ESPN’s look at the goalies.


The Wednesday night clash (another 8:30 pm Central start) between division rivals will represent the final regular season meeting between the two franchises. Winnipeg has shut out Colorado in both meetings at the Canada Life Centre (1-0 & 3-0), but the Avs came away with a 5-2 win on New Year’s Eve at the Ball Arena.
I know confidence probably isn’t high after the Jets most recent game, but maybe some positive predictions from AIH members can spark them onto big things when the puck drops.
Go Winnipeg!!!