The Winnipeg Jets immediately flew to Chicago after their 4-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday, giving them a couple of days in the Windy City. This allowed Jonathan Toews the opportunity to throw out the first pitch in front of his teammates and all the Chicago Cub fans at Wrigley Field. Maybe they hit some of the other highlights like Millennium Park or the Green Mill as well?
But with the weekend over, the True Northers will have to get back to work in the final stretch as they continue to hover between the Western Conference’s final wildcard spot (3 pts back) and a top 5 pick in the upcoming draft (1 to 4 pts up). How will the remaining NHL games impact the standings?? Quite a bit likely, since there is currently only an 8 point gap between the 21st and 30th place franchises. Oddly, one of those 10 teams will move majorly up in the Draft Lottery standings, as whichever club gets the West’s final playoff spot won’t be participating in that as they will end up in the top 16 (NSH, LA, SEA, SJ, WPG, STL). The rest will end up with varying odds of grabbing a top 5 overall selection in the draft…..so lots to monitor as the regular season reaches a conclusion.
Starting with tonight’s action that includes our Winnipeg Jets visiting the Chicago Blackhawks….
WPG Jets @ CHI Blackhawks
Start Time: 7:30 pm Central – United Center
Winnipeg (31-30-12) is tied for 26th place in the NHL with 74 points on the season, scoring 209 Goals For (25th) and allowing 225 Goals Against (16th). Mark Scheifele leads the Jets with 34 goals, 55 assists, and 89 points. Kyle Connor is 1 short of the goal scoring lead, while Gabriel Vilardi is 6 back with 28 goals.
Chicago (27-34-13) has the 2nd worst record in the league with 67 points, scoring 192 Goals For (30th) and allowing 244 Goals Against (tied 25th). Connor Bedard leads the Blackhawks with 30 goals, 38 assists, and 68 points. Tyler Bertuzzi is having another good goal scoring season, with his 6th 20 goal plus campaign & his 3rd straight. His 29th goal this season is one shy of his career high, which he set with the Detroit Red Wings back in 2021-22.
Here is how the two clubs’ year-to-date stats compare when you look at the head-to-head data, via ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers:
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A rare game where the Jets have a statistical advantage on their opponents….but Winnipeg has the edge in every category except special teams. Chicago has a slightly better powerplay and the Hawks sport the NHL’s best penalty killers.
Depending on who is net tonight, the Blackhawks might also have an advantage sinceSpencer Knight has put up better numbers than the Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck this year. Bucky is looking to have his worst campaign in terms of save percentage in 2025-26 as the .907% he put up in his 2nd NHL season might be too far out of reach. I’m sure he will want to get it above the .900% mark as much as he can and you have to wonder how many more starts he will get over Winnipeg’s 9 remaining games. With only 1 back-to-back situation left, Hellebuyck could get as many as 8 more starts despite Eric Comrie’s 6 game winning streak.
Here are the line up projections for both clubs via PuckPedia based on the most recent games (no news yet from 11:30 am pre-game skate):
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
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CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS LINE UP
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Still no Nino Niederreiter, Vladislav Namestnikov, Colin Miller, and Morgan Barron for the Jets. Coming off a Winnipeg win….I am betting the coaching staff leaves the starters alone and no alterations are made.
Go Winnipeg Jets!!!!!
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POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE:
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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all):
Expected Goals (5on5):