For most of people on the planet Earth, today is just another ordinary Tuesday in mid-May…but for the members of the Winnipeg Jets organization, the 13th is going to be way more important than just an average day.
After a controversial goal for the Dallas Stars led to a collapse by the True Northers in the final period of Game 3, our club’s chances of moving beyond Round 2 of the NHL Playoffs will be greatly impacted by the results of tonight’s clash at the American Airlines Center in Texas. According to the number crunchers over at MoneyPuck, a loss this evening would drop the Jets’ odds of making the Western Conference Finals down to a slight 14.2%…yet if Winnipeg walks away with more goals on the scoreboard than Dallas, then the series becomes a best of three contest with the Jets holding a better chance of advancing (53%) due to having home ice advantage.
So maybe the 5th time is the charm when it comes to the True Northers actually winning a road game in the 2024-25 post-season? Head coach Scott Arniel has his work cut out for him to get that job done, as Winnipeg’s players have only played one complete game so far in the playoffs. According to Garrett Hohl at The Five Hohl, the Jets have had 3 wins this post-season thanks to the entire team playing well, while the other two victories came in the Skater Steals category (i.e. the forwards & defensemen played well, but the goaltender didn’t). Somewhat surprising when you consider tender Connor Hellebuyck struggles once the regular season concludes, the data doesn’t say that his play has ever truly cost Winnipeg a game in the playoffs, since all 5 losses saw the Jets fail to have any quality performances from either of the skaters or goaltender.
The pre-game skates aren’t for another couple hours, so we will have to rely on PuckPedia’s lineup predictions for the time being. Word is that Dallas will most likely get star defenseman Miro Heiskanen back in Game 4, though the coaching staff has said that they plan to ease him back to full playing time, so it is not exactly sure on which pairing he would play. As for Winnipeg, the coaching staff has options to switch things up, with the potential of more size being added in the likes of defensemen Luke Schenn & Logan Stanley. Check back around 1 pm for an update on the rosters in the Comment section.
Time to move onto how the two franchises have performed in the playoffs to date, so have fun perusing the numbers below:
Well, putting the data aside….tonight’s contest in Dallas is a huge opportunity for the Winnipeg Jets to show the resiliency that is required from a team if they truly wish to eventually become Stanley Cup champions. As amazing and memorable the True Northers’ late Game 7 heroics were in Round 1, is this group of players satisfied with that being the high water mark of the campaign?
If not, it is time for a full 60 minute team effort to smother & frustrate the Stars tonight…..we all know that the Jets are capable of playing well enough to get the job done since they did it numerous times in the regular season. Without the advantage of home-ice giving Winnipeg the final line change, it will be up to the full complement of the Jets forward lines & defensive pairings to get the job done at both ends of the ice.
Can the Winnipeg Jets get it done? Certainly. Will they? That is much harder to say, because the consistency of the True Northers’ play has been all over the place. Having Bucky stop the first shot on net would go a long way though….will do my part by trying to get the BOJA Boost going in the playoffs, focusing my efforts on lifting the game of Hellebuyck.
Lets hear your thoughts, worries, and predictions below. The Jets have a chance to turn this whole series around tonight, but you can be certain that the Stars also know how much of an advantage they can gain by playing one more solid game at home.
Go Winnipeg!!!!!!!!!!!
***11 exclamation marks for the 11 wins the Jets need to lift the Cup.***
