For the first time since the 7 game slugfest that was the opening playoff series of the NHL’s 2024-25 season, the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues will meet up again when the franchises clash at the Canada Life Centre on Wednesday evening. I am sure that we all remember how we felt when Cole Perfetti tied up Game 7 against the Blues with almost no time left on the clock (Fett’s celebration noted in photo above), setting up captain Adam Lowry to score the eventual game winning & series clinching goal in the 2nd overtime. And so the Miracle in Manitoba became to be. Ahh…good memories.
Unfortunately neither of the clubs’ fanbases will have banked many of those from the early part of the 2025-26 campaign. Entering action tonight, the Jets (15-15-2) and Blues (12-15-7) find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture as the teams sit with the 6th & 5th worst records in the league. So, less than a year removed from Winnipeg’s Presidents’ Trophy win and St. Louis’ being one of the best squads in the second half of the regular season…neither group has been able to build on that success this year.
The Blues have been one of the worst teams at scoring goals this season (86) and that is very problematic because they have allowed the most against (123). The Jets on the other hand are a middling club in both categories, in a tie for the 20th most goals scored (98) and the 13th least goals against (99).
When you go over to MoneyPuck to look at their data, you discover that they can confirm St. Louis’ difficulty scoring goals, as they have them in near the bottom in both Actual Goal & Expected Goal percentage. Despite being the worst offensive club in the NHL at 5 on 5 (41.89% of goals scored), the underlying stats say they haven’t been as bad as the scoresheet indicates (48.45% expected goals) since they hold the 24th best rating. Winnipeg has actually had a lot of success out-scoring the opposition at 5 on 5, with a 12th place ranking (51.15% of goals scored). Yet the numbers suggest that they shouldn’t be as adept in the category since they sit in 27th in expected goals (46.95%).
In case your brain isn’t filled up with stats yet, lets look at some more by checking into Winnipeg & St. Louis’ seasons via ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers:
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Other than the True Northers scoring a half goal more and allowing a half goal less than tonight’s opposition…the rest of the columns are fairly close. Which should be concerning to GM Kevin Cheveldayoff since the Blues are starting a rebuild/retool movement and the Jets can’t use that same excuse.
Perhaps more concerning for hockey fans from the Great White North, the year Team Canada’s reigning starting goaltender is having might throw a wrench in their gold medal dreams. Jordan Binnington has the 2nd worst Goals Saved Above Expected with a -9.8 rating…but before you start dreaming of Winnipeg filling the net tonight, the only tender worse than him held our club to 2 goals in our last loss (the Sens’ Linus Ullmark).
Doing this preview very early today, so with the pre-game skate hours away, we will see how PuckPedia is predicted line ups for tonight’s clash:
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
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ST LOUIS BLUES LINE UP
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The Blues are very banged up at this point of the season, including key forwards like Jimmy Snuggerud, Jordan Kyrou, & Dylan Holloway. Good news for Winnipeg, who are relatively healthy, though defenseman Haydn Fleury hasn’t played in a game since sustaining a concussion. The defender is skating with the team in practice, so not sure if it is the injury or Logan Stanley’s recent goal scoring prowess that is keeping him out. Did you know that Big Stan is tied for 4th in goal scoring for our team this year? His 6 red lights lit has him in a 4 way tie with forwards Nino Niederreiter, Vladislav Namestnikov, & Alex Iafallo. Think on that for a bit….only Mark Scheifele (16), Gabriel Vilardi (16), & Kyle Connor (15) have scored more.
Not much else to say….the brothers Schenn meet up again…possibly recently claimed winger Jonatan Berggren breaks into the Blues line up? Winnipeg has 3 more games before Christmas Day…all against Central Division opponents. With the Utah Mammoth & Chicago Blackhawks dropping their recent contests, the True Northers could use this stretch as a way to work their way back into a wildcard position. At this point, the 8th place San Jose Sharks have a 5 point lead on our club, but have played 2 extra games so the gap might not be as wide as it appears.
Winnipeg has been playing better hockey of late…..but to these old eyes, they still look like a middling team with a solid goaltender boosting them up. Maybe they can find a way to increase that level over the remainder of the season…..and getting the special teams back in order would go a long way. The amount of failed powerplay attempts & short-handed goals allowed in recent contests has been a back breaker for them.
Go 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):
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BOJA’S Post-Game Thoughts:
Should have the game summary, stats, & video recap added to the article by 11 pm Central tonight. Here is hoping that I am actually excited about recapping tonight’s win. Still so many Jets’ players that I want to see score a goal…..Cole Perfetti, Gustav Nyquist, Jonathan Toews, etc.