The Xcel Power Middle in Saint Paul is not going to solely be internet hosting the highest 2 groups within the Central Division on Monday night, however the most effective 2 franchises in all the Nationwide Hockey League.
Each the Winnipeg Jets (17-4-0) and Minnesota Wild (13-3-4) are enjoying extraordinarily effectively to begin the season, nonetheless shall be coming into the competition on a one sport shedding streak (Jets misplaced to the Preds, whereas the Wild dropped a SO sport to the Flames). The damage bug has additionally bit every squad, as Winnipeg is coping with the lack of defensemen Dylan Samberg & Logan Stanley, whereas Minnesota is with out ahead Mats Zuccarello and presumably Kirill Kaprizov. Nevertheless, hearsay appears to point the Wild’s main scorer (34 pts) shall be making his return from damage tonight. The Jets may even have a participant coming back from damage, as defenseman Ville Heinola will make his NHL debut this yr after a brief reconditioning stint with the Manitoba Moose.
Monday’s sport would be the second time the Jets & Wild go head-to-head this yr, with Winnipeg pulling out a good 2-1 additional time victory on October thirteenth in Manitoba.
Right here is how PuckPedia is predicting Minnesota & Winnipeg to line up their gamers this night:
The Wild have fairly a little bit of expertise on their roster, particularly when you think about their GM has to take care of a $14M cap penalty taking over a bunch of area. An excellent mixture of veterans & youth, fancy strikes & grit….this Minnesota workforce performs a excessive depth sport and can attempt to shut down Winnipeg’s offense with stifling protection & robust goaltending.
The Jets play a really related model when they’re at their finest and our squad will want their legs to be significantly better than they had been on Saturday versus the Predators. Particularly, Winnipeg’s prime line of Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, & Gabriel Vilardi had been completely invisible offensively towards Nashville and they’ll should be significantly better tonight towards the Wild.
Shout out to former Jet Declan Chisholm as he’ll swimsuit up towards his former squad….whereas many Winnipeg gamers shall be returning to their residence state with the hopes of enjoying effectively in entrance of their household & associates.
Lets take a look at how the 2 franchises evaluate head-to-head based mostly on this season’s stats and take a peek at ESPN’s assessment of the masked males:
The stats above are virtually mirror photographs of one another, exhibiting simply how effectively each these franchises have been enjoying to begin of the season. Taking all that info into consideration…lets hear the sport predictions within the remark part beneath!!
Will Heinola make a great 1st impression in his season debut? Can the Jets discover sufficient offensive zone time to restrict the time Winnipeg’s banged up backend has to spend of their finish? Who would be the Jets’ finest performer of the match?
Go Winnipeg!!
