Time: 9:30 pm CST
Channel: TSN3
Radio: CJOB680/Power 97
The Winnipeg Jets have almost completed a disasterous road trip that saw them win in Anaheim, but lose Kyle Connor to a longer-term injury. That was followed by a frustrating loss to a San Jose team near the bottom of the NHL standings. It certainly doesn’t get any easier for the Winnipeg players, with former teammate Pierre-Luc Dubois and the Los Angeles Kings on tap this evening.
The LA Kings are coming in well rested, having 2 days off after a four game road trip through the eastern United States. Tonight’s home team did drop the final 2 matches against the New York NHL franchises, so they will be looking to get back into the win column on home ice. That advantage hasn’t been great for the road warrior Kings (11-1-1), with a 5-4-3 record at the Crypto.com Arena, so maybe Winnipeg can take advantage of that. Los Angeles sits in 5th in the NHL with 36 points, but has games in hand on all the teams ahead of them, putting them firmly in the elite category this season.
The news has dropped that Kyle Connor is now officially on the injured reserve list and the Winnipeg Jets used that open roster space to re-call veteran forward Dominic Toninato from the Manitoba Moose. It doesn’t seem likely that Toninato will make it to LA in time to get into the lineup this evening, but we don’t know whether Rick Bowness plans to go back to the standard 12-6 split and get Axel Jonsson-Fjallby into the game. Pretty much all that is certain at this point is that the Kings will have to face Winnipeg’s best goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck.
Here’s how the two teams match up:
GOALS FOR/GAME: Los Angeles – 3.68 / Winnipeg – 3.19
GOALS AGAINST/GAME: Los Angeles – 2.32 / Winnipeg – 2.63
SHOTS FOR/GAME: Los Angeles – 33.2 / Winnipeg – 30.9
SHOTS AGAINST/GAME: Los Angeles – 26.9 / Winnipeg – 28.7
POWERPLAY: Los Angeles – 20.7% / Winnipeg – 16.7%
PENALTY KILLING: Los Angeles – 87.7% / Winnipeg – 75.3%
After tonight’s game, the Winnipeg Jets will head home for two days of rest before starting a 4 game stand at the Canada Life Centre prior to the Christmas/Holiday break. Besides giving the organization more time to come to terms with the extent of Connor’s injury, it should also give GM Kevin Cheveldayoff the chance to ponder possible transactions to help the team and the coaching staff the opportunity to consider more innovative strategies to re-configure the Winnipeg Jets’ forward units.
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