Tonight’s matchup will be showcasing the wild card Winnipeg Jets against the Pittsburgh Penguins, who sit among the bottom of the Metropolitan Division.
The Winnipeg Jets take on Pittsburgh at home, but don’t expect to see the same Penguins we once did in the past few years. While Winnipeg sits higher up than Pittsburgh, still somewhat in the middle of the pack, the Penguins are way back. All it’ll take is a loss or two for the Pens to find themselves at the dead bottom of the Metro Division.
Winnipeg is coming off a pretty huge road win on the road against St. Louis. This is the same game that saw Laine go off with five goals, being the first one to do so since Johan Franzen with Detroit in 2011. We let a few light ones in, but the offence kept us alive, especially the second line with Kyle Connor, Bryan Little, and Patrik Laine.
I’ve got to say, our tendy’s haven’t done us too many favours in the past few games. Lots of soft goals, leading to unfortunate losses. Hopefully we can put this to a stop, beginning with tonight’s game.
Starting Goalies
Not much of a surprise here. Paul Maurice has decided to go back to Connor Hellebuyck, following a shaky game from Laurent Brossoit the other night. Hellebuyck’s last two games were pretty tough, especially his extremely weak start against Calgary. Tonight’s game will hopefully be a bounce back game for the young net guardian.
Hellebuyck brings a 9-6-1 record into this game, and will be looking to change his win column into double digits. His GAA is 2.91 this season, significantly higher than last season’s, which finished at 2.36. His save percentage has also been a bit worse compared to last year, with .910. Last year’s was an impressive .924.
Pittsburgh is once again expected to start Casey DeSmith, due to Matt Murray sustaining an injury, as well as playing poorly. DeSmith has a decent record, of 5-3-3, with two shutouts to go along with it. The netminder boasts some really good stats, with a .927 save percentage, and a 2.35 GAA.
Casey DeSmith was an AHL goalie until last year. He saw action in 14 games the past season, along with 14 so far this season.
Injuries & Roster/Lineup Changes
Winnipeg Jets forward, Andrew Copp will remain out of tonight’s matchup. The young depth player suffered a concussion, forcing him to sit out against St. Louis. He is listed as day-to-day, and there’s no word on whether he’s returning to the lineup next game.
No surprise, Jets defenseman Dmitry Kulikov is taking a seat tonight due to a upper body injury which occured a few weeks ago. No word on how his recovery is going.
Pittsburgh has five guys who could or likely will sit out of today’s duel. Patric Hornqvist (day-to-day, concussion), Derek Grant (day-to-day), Matt Murray (IR, lower body injury), Matt Cullen (IR, lower body injury), and Justin Schultz (IR, fractured left leg) are all listed as injured.
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Hopefully Winnipeg Jets sniper Patrik Laine can lead the team to a big win. The Jets just need a win tonight to be tied with Colorado, meaning they could pull ahead to third in the Central with a few more wins.