Time: 5:00 pm CST
Channel: TSN
Radio: CJOB680/Power 97
The Winnipeg Jets are back in action on Sunday as they will face the Columbus Blue Jackets when they visit Nationwide Arena for an early evening match in Ohio. The two franchises are on opposite ends of the hockey spectrum, with the Jets sitting in 7th place in the NHL while the Blue Jackets are stuck in the 29th spot.
Sunday’s contest is important for Winnipeg, as the Dallas Stars & Colorado Avalanche both picked up victories last night to pull 2 pts ahead of the Jets in the chase for the Central Division title. Being 17 pts out of an Eastern Conference wildcard spot, Sunday’s game doesn’t really mean much to Columbus as its highly unlikely that they can close that gap in the remainder of the season.
IllegalCurve is reporting that Connor Hellebuyck (2.34 GAA/.921%) is going through his starter’s routine this morning and that it appears there won’t be any changes to the rest of the lineup. If that is correct, then players like Cole Perfetti (31 pts), Colin Miller (9 pts), Dylan Samberg (16 pts), and Rasmus Kupari (1 pt) will remaining in the press-box for another game. The Winnipeg Jets top 5 scorers include Mark Scheifele (58 pts), Josh Morrissey (56 pts), Nikolaj Ehlers (47 pts), Kyle Connor (46 pts), and Tyler Toffoli (46 pts). Of course, forward Gabriel Vilardi will remain on the shelf indefinitely while he battles his recent medical issue.
The Columbus Blue Jackets started the season with a couple former Jets playing for them, but with Patrik Laine getting hurt after 9 pts in 18 games and Jack Roslovic being traded to the NY Rangers, the only remaining connection is their head coach, Pascal Vincent. The Jackets’ coach spent 11 years with our franchise, starting as an assistant coach with the Jets for 5 seasons before becoming the head coach of the Manitoba Moose for the next 6.
The Blue Jackets only have one player with more than 40 pts this season, Johnny Gaudreau (50 pts), but they do have a bunch of players in the 20-39 pt range (see ESPN’s Columbus player stats below).
Pretty much everything that could go wrong, has gone wrong for Columbus this season, but it is possible they did get a little good luck this year. On February 22nd, the team made what appeared to be a fairly insignificant move when they acquired Alexander Nylander from the Pittsburgh Penguins to help cover for the rash of forward injuries. Unlike his brother William, Alex has struggled to produce at the NHL level, despite having shots with Buffalo, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. He started this year in the AHL, putting up 32 pts in 43 games with the Pens’ minor league squad, while failing to find the scoresheet in 5 games with the big team. However, since moving to Ohio, Nylander has exploded offensively with the Jackets, amassing 11 pts in 11 games (including an impressive 8 goals). To put that into perspective, the 26 yr old had scored only 14 goals and 34 pts in his previous 98 NHL games (0.35 pts/gm) but is flirting with what would be a projected 60 goal full season since joining Columbus.
The Winnipeg Jets are coming off an offensive outburst versus the Anaheim Ducks (6-0 shutout on Friday), while the Columbus Blue Jackets picked up a home victory with a 4-2 conquest over the San Jose Sharks yesterday. Here is how today’s combatants match up head-to-head:
While entering the stats above every game, I am noticing the Winnipeg Jets’ shots against has been slowly creeping up over the season. I’m not sure if the team could ever match that fantastic stretch of hockey earlier in the season, but they do need to continue to tighten things up over the remainder of the regular season. Sunday’s contest represents the last chance for the Jets to play against one of the NHL’s bottom 8 franchises, so they best make good use of today’s clash.
If you want to see what the Columbus Blue Jacket fans are talking about, check out the game preview from The Cannon.
Enjoy the day and see you back here to discuss the action in the comments section.
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