It’s a quick turnaround for the Jets as they played in Philadelphia yesterday afternoon. They head into Buffalo to take on the Sabres today in their ninth back to back this season. With both Arizona and Nashville winning last night, it leaves little room for error as the Jets are hanging on by a thread to the final wildcard spot. Today’s game is definitely winnable and the Jets will need to do exactly that to keep pace in the ultra tough wildcard race. Here’s what to watch for in today’s game.

It looks like the Jets will be debuting their other trade deadline asset with Cody Eakin playing his first game this afternoon. It will be interesting to see how the bottom six shapes up with Eakin in the lineup. It would seem that the third line remains intact and Eakin will start on the fourth line to get a few minutes under his belt. I’m guessing Shore will move to the wing which would leave Eakin in the middle and Bourque on the other side.

Although some might argue that Eakin’s underlying numbers show a player who’s already on the decline, the Jets are hoping he can bounce back and get back to a scoring role in the bottom six. He certainly has more offensive upside than the current fourth line and he could be a valuable piece to help provide depth scoring.

After giving up the first goal once again during yesterday’s game, the Jets need to get off to a better start in this one. The Jets were never able to recover from getting down 2-0 in the opening period. Despite playing a better second period, the early deficit cost them two points. It’s always different playing during the afternoon because the routine is different and everything has a different atmosphere but it’s the same for both sides.

I’m not quite sure how to fix it, but the Jets need to score the opening goal and have a strong first period in this game. Especially playing on the second day of a back to back, they can’t get caught chasing the game because they will simply run out of gas.

The Jets horrible penalty kill has slowly been turning itself around over the last several weeks. The Jets have now killed 12 straight penalties spanning their last five games. In addition, they have gone an impressive 92.3% during the month of February which puts them third in the NHL during the month. We have seen the Jets lean on their special teams in prior years and they will need to do that again down the stretch if they want to get into the playoffs. The Jets powerplay got them back into the game yesterday as Laine sniped a one-timer to bring the Jets to within one goal. Even though they didn’t complete the comeback, scoring on the powerplay gave them some life.

This is even more important during today’s game with Buffalo operating at a measly 74.6% on the penalty kill which is 30th in the NHL. The Jets need to take advantage and win the special teams battle if they will be successful today.

With the Buffalo Sabres struggling this year, the Jets have a very winnable game this afternoon. They need to get off to an early start and win the special teams battle to take home two points. Laine will score again and the bottom six will get in on the action with newly acquired Cody Eakin picking up his first point with the team. Jets win a tight one 4-3.