The Winnipeg Jets are in San Jose for their second game of the new season as they matchup against the Sharks. The opening puck drop for tonight’s game is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. central time.
The Jets are coming into tonight after opening up their season on Wednesday in Anaheim against the Ducks. Unfortunately, the Jets could not take advantage of their opportunities as they outshot the Ducks, but lost by a commanding 4-1 scoreline. You can read Dan St. Joseph’s fantastic recap of the game with three talking points by clicking the link here.
On the other hand, tonight is the Sharks’ first game of the new season and their home opener. The Sharks closed out their preseason last Saturday and have yet to play since.
The Winnipeg Jets will look for their first win of the season when they faceoff against the San Jose Sharks
Although it is the start of the season, many people believe that it is much tougher to pick up points at the end of the season when most franchises are vying for playoff position. Picking up points against a team who is projected to struggle this season can go a long way for the Jets.
Odds
The Jets are the favorites in tonight’s contest, courtesy of WynBETT.
One thing that may be an advantage to the Jets is the Sharks have yet to play this season and their last preseason game was a week ago, while the Jets played three nights ago. We’ve seen it happen in the playoffs, including with the Jets during the 2021 playoffs, where a team with a long rest between games gets swept by their opponents who had just a day or two of rest.
Because of this, a quick start may be one of the keys to victories for the Jets. Winnipeg has the opportunity to set the pace of play against an opponent who has yet to play and will have a season-opening ceremony before the game.
Projected Lineups
The biggest lineup news for the Jets tonight is that Mark Scheifele will be making his season debut after being suspended for the Jets’ first game on Wednesday.
This means Scheifele will center the Jets’ first line and this will subsequently move Paul Stastny, who played in Scheifele’s role in Anaheim, to the third line. This ultimately means that a player from the Jets’ bottom-six from Wednesday will be scratched tonight.
If yesterday’s practice lines are any indication of how the Jets will lineup tonight, then Kristian Vesalainen will come out of the lineup. Jansen Harkins will then move from the third line to the fourth line and Cole Perfetti will stay on the third line.
Paul Maurice is not someone who makes many changes after a loss, therefore the Jets’ defense is expected to remain the same and get a chance to improve on Wednesday’s performance.
Connor Hellebuyck is projected to get the start in goal as he looks to rebound from his performance in his first start of the season.
Here is how the Jets are projected to lineup:
Connor-Scheifele-Wheeler
Copp-Dubois-Ehlers
Stastny-Lowry-Perfetti
Harkins-Nash-Svechnikov
Dillon-Pionk
Morrissey-Schmidt
Stanley-DeMelo
Hellebuyck (Comrie)
The biggest news regarding the Sharks this offseason has been regarding Evander Kane. The latest report states that Kane is being investigated by the NHL for allegedly using a fake COVID-19 vaccine card. Kane is currently not on the Sharks’ roster and will not feature tonight.
But when one door closes another opens and we are expected to see three NHL debuts tonight. Former University of North Dakota standout and 2018 fourth-round pick of San Jose, Jasper Weatherby is projected to make his NHL debut and center the Sharks’ fourth line. Also, William Eklund, who was the seventh overall draft pick during this past summer’s draft, will make his debut and play left-wing on the Shark’s second-line.
Jonathan Dahlen is the third player that will debut. He was originally drafted by the Ottawa Senators in the second round in the 2016 draft and has already been traded twice in his young career. He was first traded in 2017 to the Vancouver Canucks and then again in 2019 to the Sharks. During his time in Sweden, Dahlen is a player who can score an immense amount of points and is known to be a terrific playmaker.
To accompany these rookies the Sharks also made acquired some veteran players this offseason including signing Andrew Cogliano and Nick Bonino. These veterans will make their Sharks’ debut this evening.
Adin Hill will be tonight’s starter. Hill is taking the reigns in the Sharks’ net after Martin Jones’ contract was bought out this offseason. James Reimer will backup Hill.
Here is how the Sharks are expected to lineup:
Dahlen-Coture-Meier
Eklund-Hertl-Balcers
Nieto-Bonino-Labanc
Cogliano-Weatherby-Pederson
Ferraro-Burns
Middleton-Karlsson
Simek-Vlasic
Hill (Reimer)
Where to Catch the Game
TV: CITY, SNW, NBCSCA
Radio: 680 CJOB
Livestream: ESPN+
Besides the Jets vs. Sharks game tonight, there will be 13 other games around the NHL today. The earliest game of the day is at 12:00 p.m. CST and it features the Arizona Coyotes against the Buffalo Sabres. There will be a number of fantastic games to watch before the Jets take to the ice. You can see the full NHL schedule for today, with updated scores, by clicking here.
Winnipeg Jets Fans: Will the Winnipeg Jets bounce back and win tonight’s game? Leave your comments below!