Preview: Philadelphia Flyers @ Winnipeg Jets

4 weeks ago  /  Arctic Ice Hockey

The Winnipeg Jets’ 11 game winning streak was finally brought to an end on Thursday when the Nashville Predators beat our squad for the second time this season. It was a mistake filled outing for the True Northers, something that has been a bit more common since the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament interrupted the Jets’ momentum. So close to almost sweeping the month of February….but I guess a 6-1-0 record will have to do.



Now that the hot run has concluded, coach Scott Arniel needs to re-focus his club to pay attention to the details that have made Winnipeg hugely successful over the past two regular seasons:




Hard on the forecheck with a secondary forward ready to jump on any loose pucks created.



Play with speed. Offensively, standing still or gliding just makes it easier for the opposition to read where the Jets are going to pass to. On the other side of the puck, quick play forces the defenders to make quick decisions…which aren’t always the correct ones.



Good gaps defensively to allow Winnipeg players to either break up a pass attempt or intercept it to start a counter attack.



Back check like the opposition just stole your Rolex & wallet.



On the powerplay, avoid static positioning and keep rotating players when the True Northers are controlling the puck around the perimeter. If that doesn’t start opening up passing lanes through the penalty killers, revert to putting bodies in front and sending pucks at the goalie.




Well, the Winnipeg Jets (42-15-3) will try to put those points into action when the Philadelphia Flyers (26-26-8) visit the Canada Life Centre on Saturday. Despite both squads playing 73% of their regular season games already, they will be clashing for the first of their two meetings when the puck drops at 6 pm Central. They won’t have to wait long for the rematch though, as the franchises will square off again in 5 days (March 6th).



Winnipeg is still sitting atop the National Hockey League with 87 points on the season and have a 9 point lead on their nearest Central Division rival, the Dallas Stars. Our franchise has scored the 2nd most goals so far this season, while allowing the least number of goals against. Even with their recent struggles, the Jets’ powerplay (30.9%) is the NHL’s best, but the Detroit Red Wings are right behind them (29.3%) so they might not hold onto that spot if they don’t figure things out soon.



Philadelphia finds themselves sitting in 6th in the Metropolitan Division with 60 points (24th in NHL), though still have a shot at the playoffs as they are only 6 back of the Eastern Conference Wildcard spots held by the Detroit Red Wings & Columbus Blue Jackets (66 pts). While that might not seem bad, matters are made worse by the fact that there are 4 other franchises between the Flyers and a post-season spot (OTT/NYR/BOS/MTL). Philly will be bringing the 15th best offense in the NHL and the 29th worst defending squad to the Peg for the Hockey Night In Canada battle.



Way too early for either teams’ pre-game skates, so we will have to go with PuckPedia’s predictions for the starting lineups for now:









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On the injury front, the Winnipeg Jets could get forward Morgan Barron back anytime, so that could potentially alter the lineup above. Nothing against Morgan, but it would be a bit of a shame since the 4th line of David Gustafsson, Rasmus Kupari, & Alex Iafallo was probably the Jets’ best unit against the Predators. The Philadelphia Flyers have their own day-to-day player, with forward Garnet Hathaway close to a return from his injury.



As the March 8th trade deadline inches ever closer, you might want to pay attention tonight to a couple of Flyers who have been linked to Winnipeg as possible acquisitions.



Lets start off with a potential centerman to help stiffen up the Jets’ depth at that position in Scott Laughton. Playing as Philly’s 3rd line center, the 30 yr old can be counted on for 38 to 43 pts per season offensively, as well as responsible 2-way play. The 6’1″ Laughton leads the Flyers in penalty killing time, is a decent face-off guy (49.4%), draws as many penalties as he takes, has a 53.5% expected goals rating at 5 on 5, and while his playoff experience is limited due to his career in Philadelphia…he did put up 9 pts in 15 games during his last appearance in the post-season. The veteran center is signed at a reasonable $3M per year rate and also is not a pending unrestricted free agent (UFA) with one more season remaining on his deal. Check out PuckPedia’s Player Card below:






The second guy often linked to Winnipeg is defenseman Rasmus Ristolainen, who also is not a pending UFA with 2 years left on his $5.1M/yr contract. Another 30 yr old, the right hander has 19 pts in 57 games this season while playing on Philadelphia’s 2nd or 3rd pairing. While the Finn would certainly bring size (6’4″ 220 lbs) to the Jets’ lineup, I’m not sure his performance level matches up with his contract since the stats say Philadelphia is better when he is not on the ice. Check out PuckPedia’s Player Card for Ristolainen below:






I guess if Kevin Cheveldayoff has already determined he is moving on from pending UFA Neal Pionk, then this is an option to add depth to the right side for 2025-26 to compete with Colin Miller and young Elias Salomonsson. The Winnipeg Jets do have $10M in cap space at this point, giving management quite a bit of flexibility at the deadline. So it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Here is PuckPedia’s full cap outlook for our franchise over the next two seasons:






Alright, now lets get down to how Winnipeg & Philadelphia look head-to-head based on this season’s stats in Arctic Ice Hockey’s Match Up graphic. Then we can move on to review ESPN’s comparison of the potential starting goaltenders…though I think we can safely assume that Connor Hellebuyck will be in net for the Jets.









Both franchises are coming in on 1 game losing streaks and will be looking to right the ship. Winnipeg has gone 23-5-3 at the Canada Life Centre this season and have won their last 5 home games. Philadelphia is 11-13-7 on the road and have gone 0-5-1 in their past six travel games.



Okay, that is all I got for this Saturday morning. With the Jets’ powerplay threatening to fall below the 30% mark for the first time in a long while, I opted to give the BOJA Boost to special teams coach Davis Payne and the man-advantage unit. Winnipeg needs to rediscover that magic because it will be a key to post-season success.



Lets hear your thoughts/predictions on today’s game, your ideas for the upcoming trade deadline, or even your favourite game day snacks/drinks in the Comment section.



Go Winnipeg!!!!...

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