Tonight the Jets and Flames get back at it in Winnipeg. The top two teams in the Western Conference are set for their second meeting of the season after an embarrassing 6-3 loss for the Jets at the Saddledome back in November. That was the game where the Flames chased Hellebuyck early and the Jets tried to get back in but could never hold off the the Flames.
After that game the Jets were 12-6-2 and the Flames were 13-9-1. Since then the Jets have gone 12-4 to have a 24-10-2 record while the Flames have gone 9-3-2 for a 22-12-3 record. Needles to say the two teams have been two of the best in that time span and their records speak for themselves. The interesting point is neither team has had a very tough schedule in that time in terms of opposition.
The Flames have beaten the Blues a few times, OT loss to Tampa, a loss to Edmonton and Dallas and that's it white beating Vegas, Nashville, and Minnesota a couple of times. The Jets have a few game sin their record they would like to have won too and that's what makes this game so interesting it's literally a best against best matchup for two teams that have played few top teams.
While Jets fans have loving the production of Scheifele and Wheeler as the climb towards the top part of the points standings they may not have noticed what the Flames' players are doing. Right below Scheifele in points is Gaudreau with 48 and while Wheeler is there too with 48 there's no other Jets player in that top 50 but there are more Flames.
Tkachuk has 42, Monahan 40, Lindholm 39, and Giordano with 35. In fact no other team is sitting with 5 players in the top 50 scorers. Needles to say the Flames are bloody dangerous and likely the only reason they are not tops in the league is their goaltending.
This is a similar case with the Jets too as the number one has not played to expectations. While Smith is sporting a .888 save percentage, Hellebuyck is not much better at .909 considering his season last year. That being said if you look at games played as 10 and above you see that the Jets back up, Laurent Brossoit is sporting a 8-1-1 record with a lead leading .939 save percentage and the Calgary back up David Rittich is not far behind in his 20 appearances with a .923.
Of course the Jets are not far behind in scoring prowess either with Ehlers, Laine and Connor all sitting near 30 points and with the former starting to heat up in goals scoring quite a bit. The Jets have relied on their PP, currently second overall at 28.7% to help them and Calgary is not unlike the Jets either in that capacity with the 10th best PP at 22.5%.
Jets- 33 PPG Flames- 29 PPG
Jets- 115 PP Opportunities Flames 129 PP Opportunities
Jets PK- 81.5% Flames PK- 80.5%
Jets PPG allowed 20 Flames PPG allowed 23
What stands out though is this...
Jets shorthanded goal for- 3 Flames shorthanded goal for- 9
This matchup can be sliced up in a variety of ways but there's not denying that this is a heavyweight tilt that could likely be a playoff preview if things fall right. There's no pressure here but the team that doesn't show up is probably going to have a rather long night and for Jets fans they know showing up has been a bit of an issue for the team this season.