Central titans Jets, Preds set to clash
The Winnipeg Jets’ top line of Blake Wheeler, Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor figures to see a great deal of Nashville’s Roman Josi and P.K. Subban in the latest clash of the Central Division’s titans.
The Predators’ shutdown pair will surely have its hands full on Thursday remembering that Scheifele (seven goals, four assists) and Wheeler (two goals, nine assists) combined for 22 points in last year’s seven-game, second-round playoff series, which the Jets won.
The first-place Jets own a twopoint lead with a pair of games in hand on the Predators, who were 10 points ahead of third-place Colorado in the Central heading into Wednesday’s NHL action.
Here are five things to watch when Nashville (28-16-4) hosts Winnipeg (30-14-2) on Thursday.
1
Stay out of the box
The last time the Jets and Predators met at Bridgestone Arena, Nashville had nine power plays to the Jets’ two. Amazingly, the Preds went 0-for-9, but all the offensive zone time made life miserable for the Jets and Nashville skated away with a 3-0 win. Many observers questioned the officiating that night, but the bottom line is the Jets have to be more disciplined. They had to kill six penalties on Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights and survived, but that’s playing with fire.
2
Win goaltending battle
You can say this pretty much every night, but when facing a team like Nashville, with the second-best goals-against per games played in the league (2.56), it’s an absolute must. Pekka Rinne has a sparkling 2.43 goals-against average and .915 save percentage, while Juuse Saros’ numbers are 2.58 and .910, respectively. Connor Hellebuyck will likely start for the Jets and needs to be better than his numbers: a 2.87 goals-against average and .908 save percentage.
3
Make special teams count The Jets have the third-best power play in the league at 27.7 per cent, while the Predators have one of the worst (14.2 per cent). It’s a distinct advantage for the Jets if they can draw some penalties and use their high-powered attack to put up a couple of goals.
4
Connor heating up Second-year winger Kyle Connor had 10 goals in the Jets’ first 19 games then cooled off considerably, scoring only three in his next 21 games. However, Connor has warmed up again lately, at least partly due to being back on a line with Scheifele and Wheeler. He has five goals in the last six games. He had a short-handed beauty against Vegas, plus an empty-netter.
5
Keeping pace
The Jets lead the Central with 62 points, but the Preds are right on their heels after their 7-2 thumping of the Washington Capitals on Tuesday. That game featured fighting majors (Austin Watson and Tom Wilson), misconducts and a bunch of goals, with Viktor Arvidsson leading the way for the Preds with a hat trick. Nashville is 6-2-2 in its last 10 and looks to be in top form just in time for this rivalry game.
Ted Wyman