JNGD.42 Flight Plan: Jets Look to Rebound Against the Sabres
6 years ago
The Jets have been really good this year, where the Sabres have been quite the opposite. The Jets are looking to rebound after an OT loss to the Avalanche against a team that lost embarrassingly on the first half of a back to back. The two teams meet for the first of two meetings this season tonight.
Winnipeg Jets (23-11-7)
vs
Buffalo Sabres (10-21-9)
January 5, 2018 – Puck drop: 7:00 PM CST
Bell MTS Place – Winnipeg MB.
TV: TSN3 – Radio: TSN 1290
Recently for the Jets…
The Jets are coming off an OT loss to the Avalanche, in a game where they had to fight for that lone point they earned. The return of Byfuglien was welcomed, though a lot of people questioned his usage in the overtime period. The Jets will be looking to run away with two points from a team that has been sitting in the basement all season. They go in against the 30th powerplay in the league that might have a hindered defence.
Recently for the Sabres…
The Sabres are coming off a 6-2 loss to the Minnesota Wild, in which they also lost their number one defencemen to a game misconduct early, plus a possible suspension. Rasmus Ristolainen laid a hit to the head of Mikko Koivu and was ejected from the game. It is not certain if he will be suspended, but should Player Safety make that call, it’s likely that Corsi-blackhole, Josh Gorges will slot into the lineup. As this will be the second game of a back-to-back, another likely guess is that Chad Johnson will be in net. .
Recently between the two teams…
This is the first time these teams will be meeting this season. The last time they met was a year ago, in Buffalo, and that was the game in which Jake McCabe concussed Patrik Laine. The two teams haven’t met since then and will meet again next week when Winnipeg travels to Buffalo on Tuesday to finish up the season series against them.
Winnipeg Jets Lines
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 KYLE CONNOR |  BLAKE WHEELER |  PATRIK LAINE |
 MATHIEU PERREAULT |  BRYAN LITTLE |  NIKOLAJ EHLERS |
 ANDREW COPP |  ADAM LOWRY |  JOEL ARMIA |
 SHAWN MATTHIAS |  MATT HENDRICKS |  MARKO DANO |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | |
|---|---|
 JOSH MORRISSEY |  JACOB TROUBA |
 BEN CHIAROT |  DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN |
 DMITRY KULIKOV |  TYLER MYERS |
| GOALIES | |
|---|---|
 CONNOR HELLEBUYCK |  STEVE MASON |
Buffalo Sabres Lines
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 ZEMGUS GIRGENSONS |  JACK EICHEL |  SAM REINHART |
 EVANDER KANE |  RYAN O’REILLY |  KYLE OKPOSO |
 BENOIT POULIOT |  EVAN RODRIGUES |  JASON POMINVILLE |
 JOHAN LARSSON |  JACOB JOSEFSON |  JORDAN NOLAN |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | |
|---|---|
 MARCO SCANDELLA |  RASMUS RISTOLAINEN |
 JAKE MCCABE |  ZACH BOGOSIAN |
 NATHAN BEAULIEU |  JUSTIN FALK |
| GOALIES | |
|---|---|
 ROBIN LEHNER |  CHAD JOHNSON |
Gameday Prediction
Easy wins are anything but these days, so my prediction is that the Jets will win 2-1 and there will be forced narrative over the McCabe/Laine hit from a year ago.
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