JGN 56: Wild Times At Home

On Saturday afternoon, the Jets three-game winning streak was snapped by the historically awful Colorado Avalanche. Now, after getting an opportunity to think about how saddening that truly was, the Jets will return home tonight to play the best team in the Western Conference — The Minnesota Wild. 

Drew Stafford was activated from the injured reserve today, but as far as we know, he won’t be in the lineup. In a corresponding roster move, Brandon Tanev was sent to the AHL Moose. 

The lines and pairings will be the same today as they were on Saturday. The top-six forwards have been driving the play for the Jets recently, with the bottom-six getting guttered and struggling to provide offence. 

Ondrej Pavelec will be back in net despite a poor showing against Colorado. Since being recalled, Pavs has put up a very, very forgettable 0.895 save percentage in all situations. But, uh, timely saves? I guess?!

On the other side is the Wild. Their underlying numbers suggest they aren’t that great of a team, but they’re quite deceptive. 

They boast tremendous offensive depth, with nine different forwards currently sitting with ten or more goals. As such, they have a consistent attack that can score at just about any time, so they’re virtually impossible to line match against. A key to their success so far has been a strong power play, which doesn’t bode well for a Jets team who tends to struggle to stay out of the box. 

Their defence does a strong job at limiting high danger chances, and when they do mess up, Devan Dubnyk is generally there to bail them out. Dubnyk, a legitimate contender for this year’s Vezina Trophy, has a 0.932 save percentage so far this season.