The Winnipeg Jets returned home Friday night for a game against the Buffalo Sabers before hopping back on a plane to fly to Alberta for a game against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
Just a handful of games ago, the Sabers handed the Jets one of their most embarrassing losses in recent memory… yet they failed to keep the momentum going in their next game against the Philadelphia Flyers, limping away with a 5-2 loss. Winnipeg, on the other hand, had slightly better results in a game of pond hockey against the Montreal Canadiens, taking a loser’s point after a shootout loss.
If I was trying to make a tagline for tonight’s game at the Canada Life Center (6:00 PM Central start) like the great one used for the Ali-Frazier fight, Thrilla in Manila……probably the only thing I could think of was the Battle of the Basement. The 5th last-seeded Sabers and the 7th-last-seeded Jets won’t bring the excitement of Muhammad & Joe, but we True North fans will be happy with an even battle after the fiasco we witnessed on Monday.
We’re in a bit of a rush again today, so let’s take a look at Winnipeg and Montreal’s seasons by looking ESPN‘S comparison numbers of team and goalkeeper:
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From everything I’ve read, it seems like a coach Scott Arniel will not make any changes to the roster the Habs faced. Both goalkeepers are injured Connor Hellebuyck & defender Haydn Fleury have resumed skating, although they are still not close to a return. Bucky will slowly increase his on-ice activities as he returns from surgery, while Fleury was unable to do any activity while recovering from a concussion, so he will need stretching exercises to get back into shape.
Here’s how PuckPedia has the predicted line-ups for tonight’s clash:
WINNIPEG JETS ALIGNING
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BUFFALO SABELS IN A LINE
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This is great news Elias Salomonsson stays in line, but is definitely not a fan of holding on Tanner Pearson on the 4th line. Gustav Nyquist doesn’t make the same amount of mistakes and is a much better option, even if neither has helped much offensively this year. Can Erik Comrie stand on his head in back-to-back games? It looks like he’ll get the start, so that should mean that Thomas Milic will have to deal with people like Connor McDavid & Leon Draisaitl on Hockey Night in Canada.
Remember when you were looking forward to a Jets game? Those were good times.
Go to Winnipeg!!!!!
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AFTER-GAME INFO
Score overview: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Winnipeg Jets 4 Buffalo sabers 1
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Game Statistics: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected goals (all): BUF 5.03 WPG 2.81
Expected goals (5on5): BUF 2.68 WPG 1.85
The top 4 lines above had at least 7 minutes of 5 on 5 play time, including the unit that had that Ropes on the wing. I’m happy to see that coach Arniel I finally managed to read my article where I suggested that. That trio almost broke even in the xG battle and looked much better than before Lowry connected. The 4th line still lost the xG race, but a 2-0 lead over the even strength opponent could be taken at any time.
Ugly defensive numbers, with no combination coming close to breaking even. Despite Winnipeg scoring three goals at even strength, only one of them came with a regular defensive combination (Morrissey-DeMelo).
Comrie was great again. Coming off a Habs matchup where the tender had a +2.36 GSAE rating, Eric outdid himself against the Sabers tonight with an impressive +3.59. The Jets’ backup has stopped 63 of 66 shots on net in his last two starts… that’s a .955 save percentage.
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BOJA’S thoughts after the game:
The Winnipeg Jets picked up a valuable 2 points on Friday night when a secondary score finally came from a surprising place to help our club steal a win. On the back of Eric Comrie extremely strong play in the pipes and some timely scores Tanner Pearson & Then cabbagethe True Northers have fallen to the last wild card spot of the Western Conference with 29 points on the season.
Other positives besides a nice goalkeeper and some secondary goals, the Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele& Gabriel Vilardi trio continues to light red lamps with frequency. Winnipeg’s top line is on pace to possibly set a record for 5-on-5 goal scoring…at least the 78-on-79 goal-scoring pace they’ve been on hasn’t been achieved in the last ten seasons.
On the negative side of the coin, the Jets’ players must think they’re bakers… because they make so much turnover. Okay, dad joke aside, the number of dangerous looks for Buffalo tonight was unacceptable as Winnipeg lost that battle 6 to 1 in the game. Most of those came after failed zone exits by the Jets, something that has become a bit of a habit for our club this year. When you see a shot graph and expected goal stats like the one above… the team on the wrong side loses more often than it doesn’t. So there’s still a lot of work for the team to do before I start to believe they have a good chance of winning every time they step on the ice.
Late night game on Saturday night against the Edmonton Oilers… a club that is very good at scoring goals and allowing them to go against their bids. Hopefully the presumed starter, Thomas Milicwill be able to follow Comrie’s lead and channel his inner Bucky to give the Jets a chance to jumpstart a winning streak.
#Buffalo #Sabers #Winnipeg #Jets