Even though there was no Winnipeg Jets game last night, I still spent the evening watching hockey. Instead of focusing on the National Hockey League, my Friday evening was taken up with a few lower level games as I alternated between American Hockey League and Ontario Hockey League games.
The Manitoba Moose were in Quebec to take on the Laval Rocket, one of the AHL’s top five clubs this season, so the 17th-ranked Jets in the minor league had their work cut out for them. Especially since the Moose were currently without three players called up to the big league, forward Danny Zhilkin & defenders Elias Salomonsson & Isaac Philips. The Rocket flew out of the gate in front of their home crowd, outscoring the Moose 15 to 7 in the opening frame, but the teams went into the first intermission tied at 1-1. The shots evened out over the next 2 periods (LAV 19-17), but Manitoba goalkeeper Thomas Milic and Laval tender Cape Kahkonen weren’t willing to let another puck get past them. The extra time decided nothing, as the two clubs scored only one shot on net in extra time. So we went to a gunfight, with Nikita Chibrikov & Brad Lambert scoring for the Moose and Milic (.971 save% in game) deny all Rocket attempts (now stopped 7 of 8 shooting attempts this year) to give our team the win.
The other game I was watching was the OHL game between the Peterborough Petes and the Brantford Bulldogs. I was interested in this matchup because there were a few Winnipeg Jets prospects in the Petes’ Kieron Walton and the Bulldogs’ Edison English. As an added bonus, Brantford is also the team that projected the top 10 draft pick Caleb Malholtra plays for, so I thought I would take the opportunity to see a kid that our Jets will have the opportunity to perform for. The time spent was not wasted as Walton continued his attacking performance by being involved in all three Peterborough goals, scoring a couple and adding an assist on a powerplay marker. Brantford’s Engle also performed well, finishing the match with a +1 rating and getting a helper on 1 of his team’s 4 goals. Finally, the 6’2″ center draft prospect also impressed as Malhotra had primary assists on both of the Bulldogs’ power play goals while piling up 9 minutes of penalty kill.
So that’s how I spent last night… but now it’s time to shift my focus to Saturday’s action. The Manitoba Moose will be back in action this afternoon against the Laval Rocket (2:00 PM Central) before the Winnipeg Jets host the Toronto Maple Leafs at 6:00 PM Central. Looks like another day will be filled with watching Canada’s favorite sport… and that makes me happy.
After losing eleven games in a row, the True North franchise has turned things around and recorded four straight wins, defeating the Kings, Devils, Islanders and Wild. Tonight’s opposition is in somewhat of an opposite situation, as the Leafs had collected at least 1 point in 10 straight games before dropping their last 2 outings.
Winnipeg (19-22-5) remains at 31st in the NHL standings (43 pts) with 8 points and 7 teams separating them from the Western Conference’s final wild card spot. The Jets have scored the 20th most goals this year (141), while allowing the 16th fewest goals against (144).
Toronto (23-16-8) are tied for 11th in the league with 54 points, putting them 2 points behind the Buffalo Sabers & Boston Bruins for the Eastern Conference wildcard spots. The Maple Leafs are one of the NHL’s best offensive teams, scoring the eighth most in the league. On the other side of the puck, the Buds haven’t performed as well, ranking 8th most goals allowed (155).
Today’s match at the Canada Life Center kicks off at 6pm Central and here’s how the two clubs’ stats compare so far, via ESPN‘S comparison numbers of team and goalkeeper:
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The overall stats of Winnipeg and Toronto aren’t that different, which is a bit surprising considering the clubs are 20 spots apart in the NHL standings. The Leafs score more, but also let the opposition turn on more red lights. The Jets have the better power play, but also tend to commit more penalties, so that could give the Buds some opportunities to work on their own improvement.
Both clubs are dealing with injuries, as the Jets will most likely be without three defensemen Neal Pionk, Colin Molenaar& Haydn Fleury. The Maple Leafs will be without a defenseman Chris Tanev too, but they also have a few game-time decisions looming William Nylander (missed practice yesterday) and goalkeeper Anthony Stolarz (participated yesterday).
Since I’m writing this earlier than usual, we’ll have to rely on it PuckPedias align projections at this point:
WINNIPEG JETS ALIGNING
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TORONTO MAPLE LEAVES IN A LINE
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I hope I’ll have time around noon to review the coaching staff’s respective lineup decisions and will update the article as soon as I discover something more concrete. The Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs split the season series last year and our club will need to win tonight to make that happen this season.
Running out of time and things to say….so that will be it for now. Enjoy your weekend everyone!!
Go Winnipeg Jets!!!!!
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AFTER-GAME INFO
Score overview: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE:
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Game Statistics: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected goals (all):
Expected goals (5on5):
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BOJA’S thoughts after the game:
I hope to receive the article updates with all the details after the match tonight around 10pm. I’ll see you back here tonight to discuss the Jets-Leafs game.
What can we expect tonight? Another strong performance from Winnipeg? Shall Logan Stanley keep making people think he is the second coming Zdeno Chara Or will he return to what he was for the first five years of his NHL career? Let me know how you think things will go at the CLC in the comments section.
#Toronto #Maple #Leafs #Winnipeg #Jets