JNGD.74 Flight Plan: Jets Hope Not To Quack Without Laine
6 years ago
The Jets are looking to make it four wins in a row tonight… Will they try to do so with or without Patrik Laine? An entire city’s focus right now on the injured leg of the young Finnish superstar.
Anaheim Ducks (38-24-12)
@
Winnipeg Jets (44-19-10)
March 23, 2018 – Puck drop: 7:00 PM CST
Bell MTS Place – Winnipeg, MN.
TV: TSN3 – Radio: TSN 1290
Recently for the Jets…
The shine of a rare overtime win against the Kings on Tuesday night was slightly dimmed as the dark cloud of a long term Patrik Laine injury loomed large after he took a puck off his leg and left the game in the second period. But fear not as the injury was called just a bruise and while we’re not sure – and probably won’t know until tonight’s pre-game skate – if the Jets will be without the Finnish sniper for the weekend, it’s better than what it could have been. If Laine is away, look for the top line of Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and the suddenly hot Kyle Connor who did all the scoring for the Jets against the Kings. The Jets have three wins in as many games of this home-stand and are looking for their second four game win streak in the month of March.
Recently for the Ducks…
Don’t look now, but the Ducks – who have been meddling for most of this entire season – are getting hot at just the right time as they’re 7-3-0 in their last ten games and have won their last four games. Their latest win was a masterful 4-0 shutout over the floundering Calgary Flames and they’ve done it with grit and the goaltending of John Gibson but as of late the Ducks offense has been strong as well.
Recently between both teams…
This is the third and final game between the two teams and the Jets have earned points against the Ducks in the first two contests that both took place in Anaheim. They earned a 4-1 at the Pond on November 24, and then a couple of months later the Jets snuck out a 4-3 shoot out win. One area that the Jets would like to help themselves when it comes to facing the Ducks would be their power play as they are 3 for 33 against the Ducks over their last nine games. The Ducks average 10.1 penalty minutes per game which makes them fifth in the league.
Player ratings courtesy Corsica.Hockey
Winnipeg Jets Lines
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 KYLE CONNOR Rating: 74.1#39 LW |  MARK SCHEIFELE Rating: 79.8#15 C |  BLAKE WHEELER Rating: 81.3#5 RW |
 NIKOLAJ EHLERS Rating: 77.8#14 LW |  PAUL STASTNY Rating: 76.0#49 C |  PATRIK LAINE Rating: 85.7#2 RW |
 MATHIEU PERREAULT Rating: 76.0#48 LW |  ANDREW COPP Rating: 70.5#162 C |  BRYAN LITTLE Rating: 74.2#70 RW |
 BRANDON TANEV Rating: 68.5#126 LW |  ADAM LOWRY Rating: 73.4#46 C |  JOEL ARMIA Rating: 72.2#53 RW |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | |
|---|---|
 JOSH MORRISSEY Rating: 73.3#80 LD |  TYLER MYERS Rating: 75.2#52 RD |
 TOBIAS ENSTROM Rating: 71.9#141 LD |  DUSTIN BYFUGLIEN Rating: 79.3#17 RD |
 JOE MORROW Rating: 71.2#176 LD |  BEN CHIAROT Rating: 71.3#172 RD |
| GOALIES | |
|---|---|
 CONNOR HELLEBUYCK | |
Rating: 73.7#27 G1
Rating: 71.2#43 G2
Anaheim Ducks Lines
| LW | C | RW |
|---|---|---|
 RICKARD RAKELL Rating: 80.4#13 LW |  RYAN GETZLAF Rating: 82.1#7 C |  COREY PERRY Rating: 74.7#30 RW |
 ANDREW COGLIANO Rating: 70.9#154 LW |  RYAN KESLER Rating: 74.8#62 C |  JAKOB SILFVERBERG Rating: 74.8#33 RW |
 NICK RITCHIE Rating: 71.5#78 LW |  ADAM HENRIQUE Rating: 75.6#55 C |  ONDREJ KASE Rating: 74.5#32 RW |
 JASON CHIMERA Rating: 70.5#101 LW |  DEREK GRANT Rating: 69.8#187 C |  CHRIS KELLY Rating: 68.3#214 RW |
| DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS | |
|---|---|
 CAM FOWLER Rating: 77.6#28 LD |  BRANDON MONTOUR Rating: 75.9#43 RD |
 JOSH MANSON Rating: 74.5#59 LD |  HAMPUS LINDHOLM Rating: 77.3#33 RD |
 MARCUS PETTERSSON |  FRANCOIS BEAUCHEMIN Rating: 72.2#123 RD |
| GOALIES | |
|---|---|
 JOHN GIBSON Rating: 81.9#2 G1 |  RYAN MILLER Rating: 74.8#18 G2 |
Gameday prediction
Two teams playing some pretty good hockey as of late should make for a good game tonight. With or without Laine, the Jets are going to have to try and put up a few goals against a Ducks team that has scored 4 in each of their last three games. With the Jets being more in “protect for the playoffs” mode than the Ducks are, they might not have enough fire power to do so. Ducks win 5-3.
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