For most people from Winnipeg, a trip to Vegas in early November would be something to look forward to. I don’t think that’s the case for the 4-3-2 Winnipeg Jets though, as they are heading to Nevada to face the blazing hot 9-0-1 Vegas Golden Knights.
The Jets come into tonight’s game on a two game losing streak, however they managed to pick up “loser” points in each of those matches. Overall, Winnipeg hasn’t played that badly to start the season and are holding onto the 3rd place spot in the Central Division through 9 games. Defensive miscues and struggling special teams play has kept the team from having better success on the ice and the coaching staff really needs to find a fix before the lost points become too costly. No news on who will be playing tonight, but I am expecting to see Connor Hellebuyck between the pipes when the puck drops. The coaching staff doesn’t seem to have much confidence in Logan Stanley or Declan Chisholm, because the early play of Nate Schmidt seems to warrant another healthy scratch situation. Maybe tonight they will make the move, but Schmidt was taking a regular shift on the 3rd pairing in yesterday’s practice.
In the early part of the season, Winnipeg is getting strong performances by Adam Lowry’s 3rd line every game and the trio of Cole Perfetti, Nik Ehlers, & Vladislav Namestnikov have been been getting more dangerous every game. The fourth line has done okay with limited ice-time, so that really leaves the Jets’ top line that needs fixing. Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, & Alex Iafallo have scored well at 5 on 5 (1.33 goals per game), they are unfortunately allowing more from opponents (combined -7).
The current cream of the Western Conference, the Golden Knights have only given up 1 point in 10 games so far and have a 5-0-1 record at the T-Mobile Arena. Vegas is fighting with the Boston Bruins (8-0-1) for best team in the league, but has had a fairly easy start to the schedule (only 4 of 10 games against teams that made the playoffs last year). The defending champions are exceling at both ends of the ice, scoring 3.8 goals per game, while only allowing 2.2 goals against. The Knights +16 goal differential is quite far removed from the Jets -1, so Winnipeg will need to be at their best to beat the “house” tonight in Vegas.
Let me hear how you think the game will play out? Will the favoured Knights win yet again or can the Jets play the upset role to perfection on the road?
