JGD 24: Jets Prepare For A Wild Afternoon

A day after American Thanksgiving, Jets fans don’t have too much to be thankful for. At least, in terms of our team. 

Except for Nik Ehlers, obviously. Thank you for Ehlers, Denmark.  

The Winnipeg Jets sit at a very mediocre 10-11-2 record through 23 games and sit sixth in the central division. However, they have a chance to regain some ground in the division, as they take on the Minnesota Wild in a Friday matinee game in Minnesota. 

These Central Division rivals have met twice already this season. The Jets won the first meeting in Winnipeg 5-4, and the Wild won the second meeting in Minnesota 5-3. 

The good news for the Jets: The Wild have been struggling themselves lately, going 4-4-2 in their last 10, including losing four of their last five. The Wild are coming off a 3-2 defeat at the hands of the Vancouver Canucks. 

The bad news for the Jets: The Wild have one of the best home records in the league at 8-2-0 so far this season. 

Oh, and Wild forward Zach Parise may make his return to the lineup after being out for several weeks with a knee injury. Awesome. I mean, I happen to love Zachy-poo and I’m glad to see him come back, just wish he’d wait just one more game. 

The Jets are coming off a very frustrating 5-3 loss to the Washington Capitals. Despite being opportunistic with their limited scoring chances, the Jets can’t seem to stop shooting themselves in the foot, both defensively and disciplinary-wise. 

Head coach Paul Maurice understands that his team has had major problems defensively this season, but believes that his team will be able to correct that. 

“It just comes down to bearing down and getting your head into it that you’ve got to take care of your own end first,” he said. “I think once we understand that, the offence is always going to be there for us..

Let’s hope they get their heads into it real fast. 

Provided by DailyFaceoff.com

To no one’s surprise, the top line has been doing most of the damage for the Jets in their two games so far against the Wild. 

Bryan Little has 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists), while Andrew Ladd and Blake Wheeler both have 4 points (1 goal, 3 assists each) against the Wild this season. 

Tyler Myers is coming off a strong game against the Washington Capitals. Hopefully, this is the start of a bit of a hot streak for the big man. 

The defense really needs to step up in this game. In the first two games between these two teams, there have been 17 goals scored total. Not a lot of defense being played. Jets will need to be very strong on defense and, especially, the penalty kill. 

Jets Nation just took a look at how their ‘penalty kill specialist’ Mark Stuart has been fairing on the penalty kill. Needless to say, maybe Maurice should be looking for a personnel switch on the penalty kill. 

The starter has not been confirmed yet, but I would think the Jets would go back to Hutchinson in this one. He didn’t necessarily play bad last game, and with this being the first of a back-to-back I would think Hutch would get this one and Connor Hellebuyck will make his NHL debut tomorrow night in Colorado. 

It looks like Zach Parise will be a game time decision for the WIld. However, it seems to look promising that he will play. Before he was hurt, he was leading the team in goals with 7 in 12 games. Those 7 goals are still good for second on the team behind Vanek’s 9. 

The Minnesota Wild may have one of the most under appreciated defensive cores in the NHL. 

Ryan Suter will play 3/4 of the game and still won’t lose an ounce of sweat. Jared Spurgeon continues to be a steal of a pick-up by the Wild and is a great compliment to Suter. Jonas Brodin is basically Ryan Suter-lite and Mathew Dumba has really emerged as a force this season. 

And, they are still missing Marco Scandella, who makes this defense even that more impressive. 

The starter for the Wild has not been confirmed yet either. I would expect it to be Dubnyk. Dubnyk is 11-6-2 on the season with a 2.52 GAA and a .910 save percentage.