You can’t take anybody lightly – Winnipeg Jets vs. Montreal Canadiens Game day 30

Be sure to check Betway to check out the latest Jets game day odds and bet on the NHL! Tonight marks the first of four games against an Original Six team and the last three games before the Christmas break for the Winnipeg Jets. Once again, the Jets will be fighting for the top spot in the Central. I think we’re going to be talking about this for the rest of the season. Right now, the Colorado Avalanche hold onto the top spot with 40 points in 31 games; the Jets have two games in hand and have 38 points.

The Montreal Canadiens are a young and fun team to watch but haven’t had a whole lot of winning success lately.They have only won three games in their last eight outings. The Canadiens are looking for their third straight win against the Winnipeg Jets. They are most recently coming off a 5-3 victory over the New York Islanders. The Habs will be looking to get their first pair of wins tonight for the first time since November 22nd and 24th when they beat the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Ducks.

Jake Allen is expected to start for Montreal tonight. This season hasn’t been going his way; he has started 11 games this season and owns a 3-2-6 record with a 3.58 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage. He is 7-8-3 against the Jets all-time but has picked up at least a point in five of his last seven games against Winnipeg.

 

Connor Hellebuyck was spotted in the starter’s net this morning. I don’t need to pump this guy’s tires too much; he has 11 wins in his last 14 games, hasn’t allowed more than three goals against in that time, and has a .917 save percentage this season. The stats for Hellebuyck look good against Montreal as well; he has an 11-6-1 record with a 2.96 goals-against average and a .910 save percentage.

Both clubs are struggling with their special teams this season; they both have a 17 percent success rate on the power play. If you are sad about the Jets’ 75 percent penalty kill, just know the Habs’ is worse at 73 percent.

One thing the Jets will need to make sure is tight is the face-offs; the Canadiens are the third-best in the NHL when it comes to winning draws.

Montreal has a young group of players who can run and gun which could burn the Jets early on. Watch the first ten minutes of almost every Jets game this season. If the Jets can manage that which they should with Hellebuyck it should be clean win assuming the Jets don’t take the Habs lightly.