It has been over two weeks since we had the chance to cheer on the Winnipeg Jets, however fortunately Saturday will deliver that dry spell to an finish once they go to the St. Louis Blues. The Central Division rivals will conflict on the Enterprise Heart in Missouri (6 pm Central) as nearly all of the gamers attempt to shake off the rust gathered throughout their in-season vacation.
Winnipeg (39-14-3) was on an eight sport profitable streak when the NHL season paused and a win tonight may give them their longest scorching run of the marketing campaign. Sadly, the staff shall be with out two of the three Jets’ gamers invited to the 4 Nations Face-Off, as each Josh Morrissey (sickness) and Connor Hellebuyck (relaxation) didn’t be part of their teammates on the one sport highway journey. No less than sniper Kyle Connor shall be re-joining the staff in St. Louis, because the True Northers begin the ultimate push of the 2024-25 season.
St. Louis (25-26-5) is at present sitting 8 factors again of the Western Convention’s closing wildcard spot and their 3-6-1 report prior to now 10 video games hasn’t helped their playoff probabilities a lot. From the sounds of it, each of the Blues who attended the 4 Nations shall be obtainable to play tonight, as Canada’s Colton Parayko & Jordan Binnington return with championship medals hanging round their necks.
The Central Division rivals have fairly the hole separating them this season, with the Jets holding a whopping 26 pts lead over the Blues at this level.
Relating to the damage entrance, each franchises have gamers parked within the sick bay. St. Louis has been with out defenseman Torey Krug long-term and can also be with out the providers of ahead Alexandre Texier too. I had beforehand talked about that Winnipeg could be lacking Morrissey because of sickness, however it additionally appears that Morgan Barron isn’t fairly able to return. Excellent news for David Gustafsson, who probably will get an opportunity so as to add to his 5 factors within the final 8 video games performed.
Right here is how PuckPedia is predicting the teaching staffs to line up their gamers tonight:
With out Winnipeg’s prime defenseman within the lineup, that provides Ville Heinola the chance to slip into the third pairing with Colin Miller. A bit scarier, it additionally strikes up lumbering Logan Stanley to the 2nd pairing with Dylan DeMelo….which is able to probably end in some fascinating defensive zone situations towards the Blues. And that’s in entrance of backup tender Eric Comrie too…may very well be fairly the journey tonight.
Take a look at how St. Louis & Winnipeg match up head-to-head primarily based on their 2024-25 stats, in addition to ESPN’s evaluate of the goaltending choices:
I shall be hoping for a bunch of St. Louis’ gamers to go to the penalty field when the puck drops….because the Jets’ #1 ranked powerplay ought to have loads of enjoyable towards the Blues’ #30 ranked penalty kill.
Now that you just’ve had an opportunity to evaluate all of the stats, is any AIH member getting a sense on how the Winnipeg Jets will do on Hockey Night time in Canada? Be happy to share your ideas, predictions, or nearly the rest within the Remark part under. Ought to be fascinating to see how the hockey compares to the extent of play on the 4 Nations.
Go Winnipeg!!!!!
