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JGD #59: Here come the Oilers

By Garret Hohl

Feb 16, 2015, 19:30 ESTUpdated:

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The Winnipeg Jets are back in action this evening as they host the Edmonton Oilers at the MTS centre in downtown Winnipeg. This is the second of the Oilers-Jets three game series, with the Jets beating the Oilers 3-2 in overtime with the previous bought.

The Jets enter today’s game holding onto the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference with a record of 29-19-10, while the Oilers have the last spot in the West with a 16-32-9 record. Both teams have struggled over their last 10, with Jets being 3-5-2 and the Oilers being 4-6-0.

LINES

Lines provided by DailyFaceoff.com

Winnipeg

Halfway through the last game, Paul Maurice swapped their top-six right wingers, Drew Stafford and Blake Wheeler. Look for Maurice to continue with this updated lineup, adding some scoring punch to the second line.

Maurice continues keeping his right-handed shots separate, despite this spreading out their four most talented defenders. If the score is close late in the game, look to Maurice shortening his bench and running a Byfuglien-Trouba pair with the Enstrom-Myers pair.

According to warmups, Michael Hutchinson will get his second consecutive start. This is a necessary step for the Jets in their drive for the playoffs. Pavelec sports a 43% win percentage while Hutchinson has actually taken the tougher match ups on average and still sports a 60% win percentage.

Detroit

How good is Taylor Hall? Good enough that he’s still a top three scorer despite only playing 47 games for the Oilers. Jordan Eberle leads the Oilers in goals, assists, and points with 15, 22, and 37 respectively. He also sports a very impressive -17. Ouch!

The Oilers defensive core is one for the ages. While it does have some pieces in Jeff Petry, Oscar Klefbom, and Martin Marincin, it also has a lot of holes… like Jultz.

Speaking of holes, Viktor Fasth will likely be playing in net today.

Predictions

Game Day Predictions: The Jets will scare us at first, maybe even letting in a bad goal, but will win. Jets always will be predicted to win. We are a Jets blog.

Obvious Predictions: Jultz gets caught in a bad pinch and allows a 2-on-1 against.

Not So Obvious Predictions: Jets fourth line will have a negative shot differential. This would not normally fit in the”not-so-obvious” category, but it is the Oilers.

Extra: New Jets Nation gear coming soon

We got some new gear coming to our Jets Nation store.

Here is a sneak peek of one of the pieces: