Preview: Winnipeg Jets @ Ottawa Senators
The Winnipeg Jets have had to use some late game heroics in back to back contests to come out victorious, but they still were able to extend their franchise record winning streak to 10 games. Now the True Northers will be heading to the nation’s capital for a match against the Ottawa Senators to see if they can stretch that even further.
The Jets (41-14-3) got a little assistance last night when the Calgary Flames knocked off the Washington Capitals and that allowed our squad to take sole possession of the top spot in the National Hockey League. The Columbus Blue Jackets also surprised the Dallas Stars on Monday, helping Winnipeg to extend their lead in the Central Division to 9 points.
The Senators (29-24-4) are in the midst of a battle for one of the Eastern Conference’s wildcard spots, currently sitting just 2 points back of the final one. Ottawa’s quest hasn’t been going well lately though, as they have dropped their last 4 matches while getting out-scored 19 to 7.
When it comes to trying to determine the lineups for tonight’s game at the Canadian Tire Centre, the task is made difficult due to the fact that both franchises have injured players who remain game time decisions. The Sens have a bunch of significant forwards in that category, with Brady Tkachuk, Shane Pinto, and Josh Norris all potentially in or out of the game against the Jets. Winnipeg only has one question mark for Wednesday’s game, with Morgan Barron appearing ready to return from an upper body injury.
With the teams’ pre-game skate over an hour away, we won’t know anything concrete until then. So for the time being, lets rely on PuckPedia’s depth chart projections:
Here are Winnipeg & Ottawa’s top 10 leading scorers, courtesy of ESPN:
And one final package of stats for your review, with ESPN’s look at the goalies and Arctic Ice Hockey’s Match Up graphic showing how the franchises have performed to date:
The Winnipeg Jets have hardly played their best hockey since the 4 Nations break ended, but the level of play did improve with each game played. Our squad was not very good against the St. Louis Blues, but were much better on Monday against the San Jose Sharks, even if the Jets’ offense wasn’t clicking as well as it should. Will our squad continue that upward path and play even better when the puck is dropped at 6 pm Central?
Sounds like it is another Connor Hellebuyck start….lets hear your thoughts in the Comment section. Have a great day.
Go Winnipeg!!!!!...
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