Time: 6:00 pm CST
Channel: TSN3
Radio: CJOB680/Power 97
The Winnipeg Jets are in Philadelphia tonight to take on the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center in a game featuring a couple of struggling squads. The Jets are winless in 4 matches, while Philly has just ended a 5 game skid with a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers. Both franchises are currently holding onto the 3rd spot in their respective divisions, so it’s important for them to get back to winning ways if they want to gain on their competition.
Winnipeg has been finding it difficult to score lately, which is likely resulting from a combination of bad puck luck and a drop off in the tenacity level of the Jets’ forecheck. Of course, there is also the fact that their best offensive player (Mark Scheifele) had missed 6 of the last 7 games. If you throw in the lack of playing time the forward units have together (3 out 4 lines with less than 5 games as a trio) and the team’s awful powerplay conversion rate, the scoring issues can be more understandable. That being said, it still doesn’t make it easier to watch our team struggle to put pucks into the net and I really hope they break out of of their funk soon.
The ouija board the Department of Player Safety uses to determine suspensions landed on three games for Brenden Dillon’s shoulder to the head of a Penguins’ forward, so it seems that Logan Stanley will be lacing up his extra large skates this evening in his place. The inconsistency of the DoPS is almost laughable, especially when you consider that Jason Zucker got the same amount of games for PURPOSELY cross-checking an innocent opponent viciously in the head. Two moving objects collide resulting in the point of contact not being where the hitter wanted it compared to a planned assault with a weapon. Yeah, those things seem equal….that’s what you get when the NHL hires a useless goon like George Parros to make objective decisions on suspensions.
The Philadelphia Flyers are in a scrap for a playoff spot and with more games played than the division rival Penguins, the team will be looking to add as many wins as they can to hold onto their lead. Tonight’s home team looks like they are completely healthy after Owen Tippett recently returned to the lineup, so they will hope to build on their recent win. Philly has some dangerous forwards that the Jets will have to keep an eye on, such as Travis Konecny (23 goals, 43 pts), Joel Farabee (17 goals, 41 pts), Sean Couturier (10 goals, 31 pts), and Tippett (18 goals, 30 pts). Not sure who will be in the crease for the Flyers yet, but since Samuel Ersson is coming off a shutout in his last game against Winnipeg, he might be bringing his .900 save percentage to bear this evening.
If the Jets can get back to good gaps on the forecheck so that there are constant waves of pressure on the opponent’s defense, the offense will return. So hopefully the boys are doing whatever they need to today to ensure they have a high level of compete against the Flyers on Thursday night. Philadelphia is only 11-12-2 this year at home, so maybe the Peggers can take advantage?
Will tonight’s result give more fodder to the “sky is falling” crowd or can Winnipeg find a way to score at least 3 times versus Philadelphia?
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