The Winnipeg Jets (24-21-10) will be home to the New York Rangers (35-15-5) tonight. With the Jets offence struggling, it will be a real test of capabilities against the league's best goaltender, Igor Shesterkin.
Key Stats:
Leading Scorers:
Winnipeg: Kyle Connor - 55GP - 33G - 29A - 62P New York: Artemi Panarin - 50GP - 15G - 44A - 59P
Special Teams:
Winnipeg: PP-22.2% (12th) PK-77.3% (21st) New York: PP-25.2% (6th) PK-83.3% (7th)
Goaltending (combined, all situations):
Winnipeg: .907SV% - 2.88GAA New York: .923SV% - 2.47GAA
Breakdown:
Headed into tonight's game, the Winnipeg Jets will be looking for some more offensive production. There have been some recent games that the team has been on fire, but they need to start showing consistency. The returns of Andrew Copp and Nikolaj Ehlers are huge for this team. Andrew Copp has 1 goal and 3 points in his 2 games since returning, and Nikolaj Ehlers had an assist in his first game back after a month and a half.
Though no lineups have been confirmed, I would expect Shesterkin and Helebuyck to be the starting goaltenders and lines to look like:
Ehlers-Scheifele-Wheeler Connor-Dubois-Svechnikov Copp-Lowry-Stastny Vesalainen-Toninato-Harkins
Morrissey-DeMelo Dillon-Pionk Stanley-Schmidt
Kreider-Zibanijad-Lafreniere Panarin-Strome-Hunt Goodrow-Chytil-Gauthier Barron-Brodzinski-Reaves
Lindgren-Fox Miller-Trouba Nemeth-Schneider
This is a very winnable game for Winnipeg, who has struggled most of the season. After finishing the season series against Dallas (1-0-3), a series which all 4 games went to the extra frame or beyond, the Jets still struggle to close out games. With some of the key pieces to this teams offence returning, they have to get things together and finish these games strong. The Jets will see Logan Stanley back in the lineup after Nathan Beaulieu left the last game with a lower body injury and did not return.
If the Jets can find a way to beat the Rangers net-minder and keep the game tight, they will be able to find success. On paper, the Jets are better than the Rangers, but with Hart-candidate Igor Shesterkin in nets, anything could happen.
Despite the large gap in the standings, and a lot of statistics, I expect it to be a closer game than many may believe. With Cole Perfetti missing at least 9 more days, the Jets are still looking like one of the more deep offensive teams in the league. It is just a matter of everything else coming together (defensive structure, goaltending consistency, deployment). The Jets really don't need to blow things up. With a re-tool and a probable coaching change, the Jets may still be able to contend next year.
An interesting story for the remainder of the year will be looking at the Manitoba Moose, and what happens between the two team's rosters. The Jets could very well have a few opening's after the March 21st deadline, but at the same time they may want to load the Moose with all the talent needed for a Calder Cup run.
Will Perfetti finish the year in the NHL? Or get some playoff experience with the Moose? How would you handle this?
Thank you for reading, let me know your thoughts and have a great day.
Jacob