Fansided

Winnipeg Jets Hope to Soar Over Hungry Sharks

By Sam Melnyk |
WINNIPEG, MB - JANUARY 5: Winnipeg Jets players salute the fans as they leave the ice following a 4-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at the Bell MTS Place on January 5, 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images)
WINNIPEG, MB - JANUARY 5: Winnipeg Jets players salute the fans as they leave the ice following a 4-3 victory over the Buffalo Sabres at the Bell MTS Place on January 5, 2018 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. (Photo by Darcy Finley/NHLI via Getty Images)

The Winnipeg Jets are facing off against the San Jose Sharks who are currently holding down the 3rd seed in the Pacific division.  In this battle of Western Conference Heavy Weights who will come out on top?  Will the Jets continue their home dominance? Or will the Sharks chow down on the Jets like they did in their last meeting?

 Last Meeting – November 25th

The Winnipeg Jets were cruising through California with wins over the Kings and Ducks; then the Jets ran into the Sharks who chewed them up and spit them out.  The Sharks beat the Jets 4-0 with Logan Couture scoring two goals and Martin Jones having a 38 save performance for the shutout.

The loss was the Winnipeg Jets first shutout loss this season, in addition they lost Steve Mason to a Concussion. The Winnipeg Jets defense was weak allowing a power play goal and a short-handed goal.

The Winnipeg Jets

To start 2018 the Jets suffered a tough OT loss to the Avalanche which was followed up with a win against the lowly Buffalo Sabres.  Byfuglien was able to get the proverbial monkey off his back scoring his first goal of the season. Hopefully Byfuglien will keep up with the scoring.

Know The Enemy

The Sharks are on a 5 game road trip ending in Winnipeg.  Currently they have been enjoying the Canadian winter with games against the Canadiens, Leafs and Sens.  Their road trip is yielding mixed results.   A win against the Canadiens followed by an OT losses to the Leafs and the Sens.  After another OT loss Sharks must be disappointed especially after giving up after a 5-2 lead in the second.

The Numbers

The following is a breakdown comparing the the Jets and Sharks:

 JetsSharks
Goals per Game3rd at 3.31 GPG22nd at 2.74 GPG
Goals Against9th at 2.74 GAA5th at 2.56 GAA
Power Play %2nd at 24.8%6th at 22.1%
Penalty Kill %13th at 81.6%3rd at 84.4%

 

Next: Injury Update: Mark Scheifele will not need surgery

Predictions

Given the Jets home record and a road weary Sharks team, the Jets should be able to eek out a win.  Even tired the Sharks aren’t a team to be messed with, their powerplay is almost as good as the Jets and they wont give up much on the penalty kill.  Expect a tight game. My prediction is a 3-2 win for the Jets.

 

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