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In this edition of the hotstove, we share our picks for the Winnipeg Jets vs Vegas Golden Knights series.
Todd Cordell
Through two rounds, Vegas and Winnipeg have very similar 5v5 numbers.
The Golden Knights have out-attempted opponents by 44, out-chanced them by 37, and out-scored them by 11.
Comparatively, the Jets have out-attempted opponents by 80, out-chanced them by 37, and out-scored them by 9.
The difference is Vegas faced the 11th and 12th seeds while Winnipeg had to go up against the 8th seed and 1st seed. The latter clearly had to travel a much more difficult path.
With all due respect to the Golden Knights, I don't think they have the high-end talent or depth to match up with the Jets. They also no longer have home ice.
I think they'll put up a fight, but I expect the Jets to take care of business and advance to the Stanley Cup Final.
Jets in 6.
Jan Levine
Two newbies in the conference finals for their first time in heir franchise histories. For Winnipeg, you have to go back to the original Jets team and realize JT was 31 years since they had won even one series, while for Vegas, this season has exceeded any kind of fanciful expectations they might have had. Each team deserves to be here. Winnipeg-Nashville could have been a Cup Finals with the Jets winning Game 7, 5-1, their third road win of the series. Las Vegas, using the formula that led to a round one sweep of LA, powered past a pretty good San Jose team to make it to this round.
In short, Winnipeg and Vegas each have a ton of speed and are deep up front. Jets likely have a better blue liner, but the Knights D has exceeded expectations. Fleury has big game experience while Helly may be the next great American goalie. The casual fan saw how good Scheifele, Stastny, possible the best deadline acquisition this year, Wheeler, Laine, Connor, Byfuglien and Trouba are, and that’s just touching on some of the names for Winnipeg. Vegas doesn’t have big names, but can match Winnipeg’s production up front with Karlsson, Marchessault, Smith and Haula coupled with strong play from Schmidt, who also provides playoff experience. Perrrault and Little augment Winnipeg's offense and the Jets have to watch out for Tuch from Vegas. Morrissey and Myers lengthen the Jets blue line while Fantenburg and Engelland provide depth for Vegas. Fleury has been unconscious this postseason, but Helly outplayed his Nashville counterparts to get to this stage. I think Ehlers has his moment in the sun this round helping the Jets advance. Jets in 7
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read my Conference Finals preview post here.
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