Preview: Edmonton Oilers @ Winnipeg Jets
Before I get to discussing the Winnipeg Jets’ upcoming game, I figured I would take a bit of time to celebrate just how good our franchise has been this year. And it is not only this season, as the Jets have the National Hockey League’s best record over the past two campaigns (107-45-10 for 224 pts).
In the NHL’s 2024-25 season, Winnipeg are very close to securing the league’s best record while being the best defensive squad (186 GA) and the 3rd best offensive team (274 GF, 8 behind the Capitals & Lightning). Not done there, the True Northers are also battling for the best powerplay conversion rate, trailing the Vegas Golden Knights by the smallest margin (29.1% to 29.0%). The Jets are also doing well in some of the advanced stats, with the NHL’s best Goals % at 5 on 5 (59.51%), the 5th best xGoals % (53.27%), and the league’s best team save percentage in all situations (91.43%).
To reinforce how well Winnipeg has played this season, I have included MoneyPuck’s Playoff Odds chart, showing the top 11 playoff teams and their likelihoods of advancing throughout the playoffs. When you are browsing the numbers below, you might pick up that the Jets have the best odds to make the Stanley Cup Finals and the 2nd best odds to make the second round, the third round, & be the squad that gets to lift the Cup.
Now that we have taken a second to enjoy the amazing ride this Winnipeg Jets’ season has been, lets get back to the work the franchise has left to make it a truly outstanding season by going on a long playoff run. Before the Manitobans can get to that task, there are still a couple more games left in the regular season and that brings us to the upcoming match at the Canada Life Centre versus the Edmonton Oilers.
The Jets (55-21-4) have won their last three games to hold off the charge from the Dallas Stars and now could be turning their minds to getting some key players some rest before the post-season kicks off. This is purely speculation at this point, but it would seem like a prime time to give permanent press box resident Ville Heinola the chance to actually put on a pair of skates on game day. Other regular healthy scratches like David Gustafsson should also get the chance to play, but I am not sure that there will be a large influx of players from the Manitoba Moose joining in. A prime prospect to get the chance, Brad Lambert, was injured in yesterday’s AHL game, so seems doubtful to me for Sunday, while the healthy Elias Salomonsson would be playing games on three straight days if he was tapped by coach Scott Arniel. Possibly some Moose veterans like Dominic Toninato or Axel Jonsson-Fjallby could be options, but they would be in the same boat as young Salomonsson for the game against the Oilers. I certainly don’t expect Nikolaj Ehlers to be on the ice tonight, as he will hopefully rest up to be ready to go for the start of Round 1. Sounds like Arniel will be speaking at 11 am, so we may get an update on Fly at that point.
The Oilers (46-28-5) are coming in on a 2 game winning streak and are still fighting the Los Angeles Kings for home-ice advantage in the opening round of the post-season. They are far from healthy though, with long-term injuries like Evander Kane & John Klingberg just the beginning of their woes. Leading scorer Leon Draisaitl has also been missing from the line up, but he has plenty of company in Zach Hyman, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Trent Frederic, Jake Walman, & Mattias Ekholm.
So with all those players on the mend, here is how PuckPedia is currently predicting:
With so many regulars missing from the lineup, I am not sure this season’s stats for Winnipeg & Edmonton really mean all that much, but lets check them out anyways. At least the information from ESPN about the goalies will come in handy:
Was tempted to try giving Ville Heinola the Boost in the hopes he could work his way out of the doghouse, but decided to focus on the grinders instead with a pic of Brandon Tanev, Alex Iafallo, & Morgan Barron. I like how both Barron & Iafallo are smiling as they watch Tanev’s hotdog celebration.
Alright…the Winnipeg Jets have not been very good in back-to-back games this season and there really isn’t a whole lot of motivation to play their best, unless they have their hearts set on the President’s Trophy. So how do you see the game playing out??? Will the True Northers “next man up” attitude carry them to victory over the banged up Oilers? Lets hear your thoughts in the Comment section….and have a great day!
Go Winnipeg!!!!!!!...
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