Too busy today to complete a full Winnipeg Jets’ preview for tonight’s game, so here is an abbreviated version…
NSH Predators @ WPG Jets
Start Time: 7 pm Central – Canada Life Centre
Winnipeg (28-28-10) is in 27th place in the NHL with 66 points on the season, scoring 188 Goals For (26th) and allowing 202 Goals Against (11th). Mark Scheifele leads the Jets with 31 goals, 51 assists, and 82 points. Kyle Connor is tied for the goal scoring lead as well.
Nashville (29-28-9) is in 26th place in the NHL with 67 points on the season, scoring 195 Goals For (22nd) and allowing 225 Goals Against (27th). Ryan O’Reilly leads the Predators with 39 assists & 61 points, while Steven Stamkos has the most goals scored (31).
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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The Preds are actually a decent team at 5 on 5, holding a 50.12% Expected Goals rate for the season (16th in NHL). That is compared to the True Northers’ 47.47% Expected Goals rate (25th).
However, the teams’ fortunes have reversed in the past 20 games, with Winnipeg’s 50.17% xG’s (15th in NHL) ahead of Nashville’s 49.18% xG’s (20th in NHL). The Preds have been particularly poor over their last 10 contests, with a 43.76% xG’s rating giving them the 5th worst number in that span.
Based on the morning skates today, here are the line up projections for both clubs via PuckPedia based on the most recent games:
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
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NASHVILLE PREDATORS LINE UP
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The only possible change that I can see coming for Winnipeg might be the return of defenseman Neal Pionk from injury. He was spotted wearing a non-contact jersey today and did participate is some of the line rushes during practice. So it is possible the Jets’ number of games lost to injury for their top 4 defenders might stay at 47 for the season. Have a good day everyone!!
Go Winnipeg Jets!!!!!
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POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Nashville Predators 4 Winnipeg Jets 3 (SO)
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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all): WPG 5.38 NSH 2.26
Expected Goals (5on5): WPG 3.13 NSH 1.40
Winnipeg did fairly well at even strength versus Nashville, though the Toews’ line struggled. However, the only 5 on 5 goals against went against the 4th line, despite their 72.1% xG rating. Hellebuyck probably should have stopped both of those since they weren’t from high danger spots…so hard to be that negative about their outing.
The only Jets’ goal at even strength came from the reunited 1st line of Scheifele, Connor, & Vilardi.
As MorroBayJets said in the Comments, Salomonsson has been very impressive in his rookie season and once again his pairing dominated the xG battle. The duo was also the only one not to give up an even strength goal against since the other two pairs allowed one each. The Morrissey–DeMelo line was on for Winnipeg’s only 5 on 5 goal.
Rough one for Hellebuyck as Saros easily outplayed him.
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As a result of the 1 point the Winnipeg Jets picked up, here is how the Western Conference’s Wildcard race looks (courtesy of ESPN):
And here is how the NHL’s bottom 13 standings appear before today’s action:
So the True Northers are 4 pts back of the final wildcard spot and 5 pts ahead of the 3rd worst record in the league. With only 15 games, there is still time to move up or down from their current 27th ranking. Fortunately for the tankers among the fanbase, Winnipeg will only play a third of those contests in the fairly friendly confines of the Canada Life Centre (5 games).
The Jets have a much better record in Manitoba (17-13-6), so being on the road (11-15-5) that often could lead to some losses being added to their record.
Some of the bottom dwellers will be squaring off tonight, with the New Jersey Devils & New York Rangers and St. Louis Blues & Calgary Flames meeting each other. Ideally these will end up as 3 pt matches so everyone gains on the Winnipeg.
Time to head out on the road again, as the next opponent is the Boston Bruins on Thursday……