So the bubble finally burst and the Winnipeg Jets lost their first game of the 2024-25 season. There has been lots of hand-wringing since our squad dropped a contest to the Toronto Maple Leafs that saw an unmotivated home team fall too far behind to mount a special teams-charged comeback. At least Kyle Connor provided a little entertainment with a 4 point night and his 7th & 8th goals of the campaign.
While the Jets’ performance was disappointing to see, it was just a matter of time before the team laid an egg and took a loss. When all is said and done, I thought Winnipeg would have a 6-3-0 or 7-2-1 record after the first 10 games, so they will certainly out-perform that as they prepare for Game #10. So, if we consider the vast improvements to the special teams this season and the fact that these same players displayed last year that they are capable of playing a tight defensive game at 5 on 5, there is plenty to be encouraged by.
That being said, to paraphrase the NFL’s Dennis Green, “The Jets are who we thought they were“. Winnipeg is still a playoff team in my opinion, but they never were as dominant as their undefeated record could lead you to believe.
After being made to look incompetent at even strength by the Maple Leafs, the Winnipeg Jets (8-1-0) have headed out on the road to visit the Detroit Red Wings (4-4-1) for a Wednesday night clash. In another 6:30 pm CST start, the two squads will meet at the Little Caesars’ Arena in Michigan as the True North franchise attempts to begin another winning streak.
There is not a lot of news yet about the exact starting lineup for the Winnipeg Jets, but the pre-game skate suggests that the same 19 players will be on the ice to face the Wings. Whether they remain in the lines listed below by PuckPedia is uncertain:
The Detroit Red Wings are coming in on a two game skid thanks to losses to Buffalo & Edmonton, but had just beat three quality franchises (NSH, NYI, & NJ) before that. The Wings just pulled off a trade, sending defenseman Olli Maata to the injury-plagued Utah Hockey Club for a 3rd round pick and freeing up icetime for their other 7 defensemen.
Tonight’s game will give Jets’ fans a chance to see a couple former players in action, as both Andrew Copp (6 pts) and Ben Chiarot (2 pts) will be in the lineup for the hometown squad. Other key Detroit skaters include Lucas Raymond (8 pts), Patrick Kane (7 pts), Alex DeBrincat (7 pts), & Moritz Seider (5 pts).
Here is the projected lineup for the Red Wings tonight, via PuckPedia:
The two graphics below include a head-to-head comparison of the two combatants and also ESPN’s image showing how the masked men have performed this year.
From the stats, it seems Winnipeg should be able to heavily outshoot a Wings’ team that allows almost 35 shots against per game, while only getting about 25 of their own. The Jets also have a big special teams advantage over Detroit, but the goalie stats tell us both franchises could get an above average performance in Wednesday’s battle.
So far this season, each time I picked Gabriel Vilardi for the cover photo of the Preview article, he had scored a goal in that match (appeared twice). Others to grab the main picture include Connor Hellebuyck, Kyle Connor, & Nikolaj Ehlers….who have all played pretty well this season. So, even though Mark Scheifele hasn’t done poorly to start the season, I opted to put #55 in the pivotal spot in the hopes it inspires the Jets’ center to some 5 on 5 goal scoring success.
That’s about all I have time for now……..here’s hoping the boys give us something worth watching when the puck drops at 6:30 pm CST.
