The Winnipeg Jets were able to sneak out an overtime victory in their last outing, giving them a 3 game winning as they prepare to take on the Vancouver Canucks tonight at the Rogers’ Arena (9 pm Central).
Road roommates Cole Perfetti & Dylan Samberg played a vital part in that last win over the Seattle Kraken and the improvement seen from young players like them have helped this version of the Jets become one of the National Hockey League’s best franchises.
Winnipeg (47-17-4) is currently sitting at the top of the league with 98 points on the season and have a magic number of 10.5 to lock up both the Central Division & Western Conference titles. With only 14 contests remaining in the regular season, the True Northers will be looking to fine tune their on-ice skills for the upcoming challenge of the playoffs. Despite head coach Scott Arniel breaking up the 3rd pairing after just 4 minutes of playing time against the Kraken, yesterday’s Jets’ practice suggests that there will be no lineup changes when they take the ice…of course, other than Connor Hellebuyck getting the start in place of Eric Comrie.
Vancouver (31-25-11) holds onto the 15th best record in the NHL and have recently worked their way into the Western Conference’s final wildcard spot. Unfortunately the Canucks let a chance slip by to take a firmer grip of that by dropping their last outing 3-1 to the Utah Hockey Club, so they will be desperate to add to their point total tonight.
Here are PuckPedia’s early lineup projections (*updated VAN’s lineup w/ expected changes @ 5 pm*):
While the Winnipeg Jets will be trying to further increase their lead in the Central, the Vancouver Canucks will want to do their best to hold off the challenges from the other franchises hoping for that final wildcard spot. The Calgary Flames’ hopes seem to be slipping after 3 straight losses and are now outside of the playoff picture after spending the majority of the season holding onto such a spot. Utah’s most recent win has kept them in the hunt as well, but the most dangerous looking team could perhaps be the St. Louis Blues, who have gone 8-2-2 since goalie Jordan Binnington helped Team Canada to the 4 Nations Face-Off championship.
Here is how the Canucks & Jets match up based on this year’s statistics, as well as ESPN’s review of the goalies:
Time is not on my side this morning, so a brief Preview will have to do. Will include one final NHL stat before I sign off, as I just noticed that the San Jose Sharks have become the first franchise to be officially eliminated from the post-season.
Please share your thoughts & predictions for tonight’s late West Coast game in the Comment section below and have a great day!!
Go Winnipeg!!!!!!
