Looking at The Week Ahead – Nov 14 to Nov 20

The Winnipeg Jets are moving in the right direction after their shootout win over the LA Kings moved them above .500 with record of 8-7-2 and sitting in SECOND PLACE in the Central!! Granted, they’ve played more games than anyone else (3 more than third place Minnesota), but still, we’ll take it! They look to keep things going with 4 games coming up this week. They face the Blackhawks at home before heading out on a road trip that won’t bring them back to Manitoba for awhile.

Read on to take a look at what’s on tap for the Jets in the coming week.

This will mark the first of five meetings between the two Central Division rivals. Chicago currently sits atop the division and show no signs of slowing down. The ‘Hawks had a seven game winning streak snapped on Friday when they lost in overtime to the Capitals, but are still 8-0-2 in their last 10. If the Jets want to show they can run with the big boys, they’re going to want to be competitive in this one. This game marks the start of a seven game road trip for the Blackhawks through western Canada and down the west coast.

Statistical leaders for the Blackhawks are Patrick Kane with 18 points and Marian Hossa with 9 goals. Corey Crawford is up to his old tricks with a .934 save percentage.

As of Monday morning, the Flyers sit at 7-7-2, good for fifth in the Metropolitan. They are in the middle of a four game home stand, having beaten the Minnesota Wild 3-2 on Saturday, hosting Ottawa on Tuesday, then have Tampa coming in for an afternooner next Saturday. Jakub Voracek and Claude Giroux have 16 points apiece, Wayne Simmonds has 15, and rookie Travis Konecny, 24th overall pick in the 2015 draft is off to a great start with 10 points in 16 games. The goaltending situation in Philly is much worse than what the Jets are dealing with. Michael Neuvirth, who left Saturday’s game against Minnesota , has an .859 SV% in 9 gmaes played while Steve Mason isn’t faring much better at .880 in 11 appearances. If Neuvirt is going to miss time, it is expected that Anthony Stolarz would be called up from the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.

Boston beat Winnipeg 4-1 in the Jets’ home opener on October 17th behind 34 saves from Tuukka Rask and have kept things going since, amassing a 10-6-0 record and sit in 2nd place in the Atlantic Division. This game will be the start of a two game homestand with St. Louis headed to Boston on the 22nd. The Bruins are nowhere near as banged up as Winnipeg as Anton Khudobin approaches a return but Noel Acciari suffered an LBI last week and could be out for awhile. Brad Marchand leads the team with 16 points and David Pastrnak has 10 goals. Tuukka Rask is Tuukka Rask, with a 9-1 record and a .941 SV%.

This will be the second meeting of the season between these two. Who can forget the first time? Blake Wheeler’s short-handed goal midway the third ignited the comeback before Mark Scheifele won it in overtime in the season opener. The ‘Canes will see a much different Jets team than they saw that day, though, will all the injuries the Jets have faced since then, plus the return of Jacob Trouba. Carolina beat Washington 5-1 Saturday night to snap three game losing streak. This game against the Jets Sunday marks the end of a five game homestand with the Sharks in town on Tuesday and Habs coming in on Friday. 

The team announced Friday that left winger Bryan Bickell has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and it is unknown if/when he may rejoin the team. Defenseman Justin Faulk has also been placed on IR with an upper body injury and is listed as ‘week-to-week’. Rookie Sebastian Aho had his first two goals of the year against WAshington on Saturday and now has 9 points. Jeff Skinner and Victor Rask lead the team with 6 goals and Skinner leads the team with 13 points.

The Jets will head to Minnesota to take on the Wild before a home-and-home with the Preds. Should the Jets have a good week this week, and take care of some business in the Central the week after, they may find themselves in a very good spot come (American) Thanksgiving on Thursday, November 24.