It’s Hometown Hockey in Winnipeg as the Jets host the struggling Ottawa Senators. The Jets will have a chance to retake sole possession of first place in the West over the St. Louis Blues, but also grab a share of the overall NHL lead with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

After two periods of very average play against the Vegas Golden Knights that saw them tied after two periods they really should have been ahead in, the Jets found a higher gear and rattled off three goals in the first six minutes of the third period to take a commanding 5-2 lead and end up coasting to a 7-4 win over the pesky Knights.

Kyle Connor had two goals in that game, but will not be in the lineup against the Senators tonight due to injury. Patrik Laine, Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele all had three-point efforts in that game against Vegas as well.

Ottawa finally picked up a win on Friday night against the New York Islanders after having lost the previous seven in a row. In that win the Sens discovered some much-needed scoring putting up six against the Isles, it was the first time the Sens had scored more than two goals in a game since November 11. The Sens are an all-or-almost-nothing team when it comes to the offence as they’re 7-3-3 in games where they get the first tally of the night, but 2-6-3 when the opposition scores first.

It’s the first of two meetings between the two clubs, the Jets next take on the Sens near the end of the season in Ottawa on April 2nd. Last season the Jets handled their business against the Senators by picking up a 3-2 win in Ottawa in February and a 4-2 win at home in Winnipeg back on April 1. Before those two wins, the Jets struggled quite a bit against the Sens going 2-5-1 in the eight games before dating back to 2013.

Ottawa is 7-1-1 when they lead after the first 20 minutes, but a pedestrian 2-8-5 when either tied or trailing after the first period. On the other hand, the Jets are 9-1-1 when leading, but are a bit better when trailing or tied after 20 with a 7-5-3 record. Also worth noting is the Jets this season have outscored their opponents 34-23 in the first period, while the Senators have kept things low scoring in the opening frame with a 24-20 combined score in their favour.

MIKE CONDON

The Senators are not a team to be easily dismissed or taken lightly and as we’ve mentioned, the first period could be very key. The Jets can’t afford a slow start like they had against Vegas on Friday night. This team has shown an ability to come back and come alive in games that they trail, but still are prone to not coming out with a full head of steam and that might cost them tonight. Senators win 3-1.

Let Panago Pizza’s new #RoadToTheCup Hockey Combo fuel the game. Order one tonight.