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JN Flight Plan #68: Buffalo Sabres @ Winnipeg Jets

By Art Middleton

Mar 3, 2020, 16:00 ESTUpdated: Mar 3, 2020, 15:57 EST

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If a casual observer was to take a look at the @Winnipeg Jets last stretch of games where they’ve gone 1-3-1, they’d probably come to the conclusion that the Jets have not been very good as of late. While the Jets did struggle a little over a week ago, one can make the case that the last two games they’ve played – at home to the @Washington Capitals and then on the road against the @Edmonton Oilers – have been some of the best overall hockey the club has played almost all season and it’s been done without @Josh Morrissey or @Patrik Laine.

Now it looks like the Jets will get those two players back tonight as they hope to avenge a loss to a @Buffalo Sabres club that we gifted a win back on February 23.

Buffalo Sabres (29-28-8 / 6th Atlantic)
@
Winnipeg Jets (38-28-6 / 5th Central)

Mar 3, 2020 – Puck drop: 7:00 PM CST
Bell MTS Place – Winnipeg, MB
TV: TSN 3 – Radio: TSN 1290


@ ARI 5-2 L	Last Game	@ EDM 3-2 L
2-3-0 (3 L)	Last 5 Games	1-3-1 (1 L)
@Jack Eichel – 35	Goal Leader	@KYLE CONNOR – 33
Jack Eichel – 42	Assist Leader	@MARK SCHEIFELE – 42
Jack Eichel – 77	Points Leader	MARK SCHEIFELE – 70
19.57% (18th)	The Power Play	19.70% (17th)
74.29% (30th)	The Penalty Kill	76.79% (26th)
@Carter Hutton (12-12-4 / .898 SV%)	Starting Goalie	@Connor Hellebuyck (27-21-5 / .919 SV%)
L @ VGK (24-27 / .889 SV%)	Last Goalie Start	L @ BUF (19-22 / .864 SV%)
10-18-4 ON ROAD	Road v Home Record	17-14-3 AT HOME

Last Sabres Game

The Sabres got out to a 2-0 lead after the first period on the road in Glendale, but couldn’t hang on as the @Arizona Coyotes scored three times in the second to take the lead and a couple of more times in the third to salt away a 5-2 win over Buffalo.

Fun Sabres Facts…

This is the 65th game all-time between Buffalo and Winnipeg; Buffalo has a 28-25-11 series record and the Sabres are 10-14-7 on the road against the Jets all-time.
Carter Hutton has a .973 save percentage in his last five appearances against Winnipeg.
The Sabres acquired forwards @Dominik Kahun and @Wayne Simmonds in trades before the trade deadline on Feb. 24. With a goal on his first shot as a member of the Sabres on Friday at Vegas, Kahun became the 57th player ever to score in his Sabres debut.

What They’re Saying…

So what can be done over the summer? A lot of fan ire has been directed at GM Jason Botterill, who took over the reins in 2017 and has yet to deliver any post-season berths in Buffalo. Will the Pegulas pull the plug on his tenure, or keep pitching forward? Either way, whoever is making the roster decisions this summer actually has a lot of room to work with. Let’s look at the landscape right now.

How do you fix the Buffalo Sabres? – The Hockey News

Looking at the data, the most comparable contract to @Sam Reinhart may be that of Florida Panthers forward @Jonathan Huberdeau. He signed his contract back in 2016 at 23-years-old. Huberdeau agreed to a six-year deal that carried a cap hit of $5.9 million. At the time, that was a C.H.% of 8.08%. He was a high pick similar to Reinhart and scored at slightly lower points per game clip of 0.63.

Exploring Sam Reinhart’s market value – Die By The Blade

Last Jets Game

A very entertaining and competitive contest between Winnipeg and Edmonton saw @Leon Draisaitl score a pair of goals to help pace the Oilers to a 3-2 regulation time win over the Winnipeg Jets.

Fun Jets Facts…

Winnipeg plays seven of their last 15 games at home…The Jets have won three consecutive home games to improve to 17-14-3 on the season. Winnipeg is also 6-2-1 in their past nine home games.
Kyle Connor reached 100 career goals with his second period tally on Saturday against Edmonton. He’s the 12th player in franchise history to reach 100 goals.
Connor and @Neal Pionk each had seven shots on Saturday, which marked the third time this season two members of the Jets had seven shots or more in the same game.
Mark Scheifele is averaging more than a point per game against Buffalo with 11 points (5G, 6A) in 10 games.

What We’re Saying…

Looking at a team’s record with and without a player can often be misleading, but the Jets went 1-3 without Morrissey in the last week. Obviously the losses aren’t solely because Morrissey was hurt, but he provides a steady presence on the back end that nobody else on the team does. It will certainly be a huge help to have him back in the lineup tonight.

WTWF: Jets Desperate To Stay In The Wildcard Race

Be sure to check out our Twitter feed for any late updates to the game lineups!
You can also get up to the minute lineup combos for the Jets
including power play and penalty kill lines by checking out our line combo page.

Buffalo Sabres Lines

LW	C	RW	Forwards
VICTOR OLOFSSON Rating: 74.2#41 LW	JACK EICHEL Rating: 81.1#8 C	SAM REINHART Rating: 75.5#27 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 76.93#7 FL1
JIMMY VESEY Rating: 70.4#102 LW	MARCUS JOHANSSON Rating: 71.4#95 C	DOMINIK KAHUN Rating: 71.6#92 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 71.15#28 FL2
JEFF SKINNER Rating: 73.5#44 LW	CURTIS LAZAR Rating: 70.1#127 C	WAYNE SIMMONDS Rating: 70.1#121 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 71.24#20 FL3
ZEMGUS GIRGENSONS Rating: 71.2#88 LW	JOHAN LARSSON Rating: 70.2#122 C	KYLE OKPOSO Rating: 72.6#70 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 71.35#7 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS	Defense
RASMUS DAHLIN Rating: 74.3#25 LD	RASMUS RISTOLAINEN Rating: 73.3#42 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 73.83#16 DL1
BRANDON MONTOUR Rating: 73.3#46 LD	COLIN MILLER Rating: 72.2#67 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 72.72#19 DL2
JAKE MCCABE Rating: 71.5#85 LD	HENRI JOKIHARJU Rating: 71.0#95 RD	DL3 Rating Rating: 71.28#20 DL3

GOALIES
CARTER HUTTON Rating: 66.7#41 G1	JONAS JOHANSSON Rating: 67.9#33 G2

Winnipeg Jets Lines

LW	C	RW	Forwards
KYLE CONNOR Rating: 78.0#7 LW	MARK SCHEIFELE Rating: 77.5#15 C	BLAKE WHEELER Rating: 76.2#20 RW	FL1 Rating Rating: 77.25#6 FL1
NIKOLAJ EHLERS Rating: 75.3#25 LW	CODY EAKIN Rating: 70.7#109 C	PATRIK LAINE Rating: 74.7#30 RW	FL2 Rating Rating: 73.59#14 FL2
JANSEN HARKINS	ANDREW COPP Rating: 72.7#69 C	JACK ROSLOVIC Rating: 71.7#90 RW	FL3 Rating Rating: 72.20#11 FL3
GABRIEL BOURQUE Rating: 67.8#146 LW	NICK SHORE Rating: 70.5#115 C	MASON APPLETON Rating: 69.8#129 RW	FL4 Rating Rating: 69.39#25 FL4

DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS	Defense
JOSH MORRISSEY Rating: 73.7#36 LD	DYLAN DEMELO Rating: 71.4#83 RD	DL1 Rating Rating: 72.52#27 DL1
DMITRY KULIKOV Rating: 71.9#73 LD	NEAL PIONK Rating: 75.5#21 RD	DL2 Rating Rating: 73.73#13 DL2
NATHAN BEAULIEU Rating: 71.4#89 LD	TUCKER POOLMAN Rating: 70.5#101 RD	DL3 Rating Rating: 70.93#23 DL3