It’s once again Winnipeg Jets game day on this Sunday afternoon. The Jets conclude a mini 2 game home stand tonight against the Calgary Flames before heading on the road for 3 games. The Jets flipped the score of their previous matchup, defeating the Utah Hockey Club 5-2 on Friday night. It was a much better effort than the game on Monday night, and now the Jets will try to go for their 3rd straight win. The Flames are also looking for their 3rd straight win tonight, entering Winnipeg following a 5-4 win last night on the road against the Minnesota Wild.

The latest “standings check” sees the Jets continue to be 2 points behind the Washington Capitals for top spot in the NHL league standings. At the 50 game mark, the Jets have a 33-14-3 record, a +53 goal differential, and are tied for the most wins at home with 19. The Flames continue to hold down a wild card position, sitting 14th overall in the league standings at 24-16-7. These 2 teams recently met on January 18th, where the Flames won 3-1 thanks to a 38 save performance from Dustin Wolf. In their last 10 matchups, the Flames and Jets have been fairly evenly matched, with the Flames winning 6 out of the 10.

Healthwise, the Jets continue to get closer to being at full strength. Josh Morrissey missed practice yesterday due to illness, and prospect Brad Lambert was temporarily set down to Manitoba to play for the Moose on Saturday afternoon. All other players were in attendance for practice, and the only player out of the Jets lineup is Adam Lowry, who remains week-to-week with an upper body injury. Colin Miller and Ville Heinola remain as the healthy scratches on defence with all 6 other regular defencemen fully back in the lineup.

Hellebuyck wasn’t busy at all on Friday night, only facing 19 shots, so expect him to once again be tonight’s starting goalie for the Jets. Flames goalie Dustin Wolf did just enough to help the Flames pick up the win in Minnesota last night, but expect backup Dan Vladar to get the start tonight. Vladar, once named the starter at the beginning of the season, has now become the backup due to rookie Dustin Wolf’s so far terrific 1st full season. Vladar is 6-9-5 with a 3.03 GAA, a .889 SV% and 2 shutouts. As for Connor Hellebuyck, he became the 1st goalie this season to reach 30 wins. Hellebuyck is now 30-7-2 with a 2.02 GAA, a .926 SV% and 6 shutouts for the Vezina trophy frontrunner.

Puck drop for this all Canadian Sunday night matchup is at 5:00 pm CT. Tonight’s game is a perfect opportunity for the Jets to continue their positive momentum against a team playing its 3rd game in 4 nights. The Flames have been outperforming pre-season expectations though, so the Jets can’t take this game lightly, especially after their most recent matchup against the Flames. I mentioned this before last game, but I think tonight will be a good showcase for the Jets 1st line, who all continue to be on pace for career highs. Make sure to check back here post-game for an instant reaction and recap on tonight’s game, and hopefully the Jets pick up their 3rd straight win.

Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti
Niederreiter-Kupari-Appleton
Barron-Gustafsson-Iafallo

Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Fleury-Stanley

Hellebuyck/Comrie