JGD 24: Jets Return Home In Hopes To End Losing Streak

Mercifully, it’s over. The Winnipeg Jets finally return to the comfort of their own beds after coming off a disastrous road trip that saw them go 0-5 while being outscored 20-6. The Nashville Predators will provide the opposition, the same team that waxed the Jets 5-1 on Friday night.

Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine were benched in the third period of Friday’s debacle in Nashville. Granted, it wasn’t the trio’s best outing but to blame them for a terrible ending to an awful road trip would be off base. The hope here is that Paul Maurice wanted to send the team a message by sitting three top players to wake them and the team up. If this ploy fails, Maurice’s job might be in jeopardy.

Julian Melchiori was recalled from the Manitoba Moose on Saturday as Toby Enstrom remains in Sweden to attend to a family emergency. It’s possible that Melchiori could replace Mark Stuart in the lineup after the veteran’s own goal on Friday. Maurice is loyal to Stu so expect Melchiori to play only if there’s another injury on the blueline.

As of press time, it is unknown who will get the start between the pipes. Because of the early start, it may not be announced until game time. Connor Hellebuyck has started six out of the last seven games so perhaps Michael Hutchinson gets the call. Hutch’s last start was on November 19 against Boston in which he surrendered 4 goals on 38 shots for an .895 save percentage. In all fairness, neither goalie has received much support lately.

It was a very good night for three Predators on Friday. Colin Wilson and Ryan Johansen each had a pair of goals while Mike Fisher notched three assists in the Predators convincing win. 

Nashville’s power play is very good ranking third in the NHL with a 25.3% success rate. The Preds went 3 for 5 with the man advantage against the Jets on Friday, showing deft puck movement and getting a couple of lucky bounces. The Jets need to stay out of the box or risk paying the price again.

Mattias Ekholm is one of the more underrated defencemen in the NHL. Despite some of the Predators early struggles, Ekholm has a 52.2% Corsi, even though he sees hard minutes against the opposition’s best forwards. Ekholm isn’t as flashy as P.K. Subban, but he’s an effective, steady blueliner that plays with intelligence.

Pekka Rinne made some key saves on Friday albeit a couple of stops looked rather awkward. We mentioned it before Friday’s game but it bears repeating. Rinne is having an excellent season after a disappointing 2015-16 season in which many thought he would continue his regression this season. With goalies, it is a great unknown when full-on regression hits but the Predators hope it doesn’t happen this season.

Game Prediction: The Jets are back home and want to avenge Friday’s meltdown. The Predators did deserve the win on Friday but it’s very difficult to sweep the home-and-home. We say the Jets end their losing streak. Jets win 4-3 in overtime.

Obvious Prediction: With the game starting at noon, expect a late arriving and quiet crowd at the MTS Centre as fans recover from their Saturday night shenanigans.

Not So Obvious Prediction: Since I have this game going into overtime, I’m calling that either Wheeler, Scheifele or Laine will get the overtime winner just to show they never want to get benched again.