The first round series between the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues is returning to the province of Manitoba knotted up at 2 game apiece, with a big opportunity for either franchise to put the other on the edge of elimination.
According to MoneyPuck, our hometown Jets still have a 62.1% chance of making it to the second round after dropping the last two contests. So far, the home ice advantage has been huge and Winnipeg will be looking for the White Out crowd at the Canada Life Centre to propel them to a big victory on Wednesday night.
Our club did receive some good news when it was confirmed that top liner Gabriel Vilardi will be returning to the lineup, as well as a positive sign in Nikolaj Ehlers resuming skating after the lower body injury he sustained late in the season. As a result, head coach Scott Arniel has made some changes to the forward units, as indicated below in PuckPedia’s projected line ups:
As the series switches back to Winnipeg, the momentum has tilted in favour of St. Louis after two dominant wins in their home barn. The Jets are at risk of losing three games in a row for the 4th time this year and need a full team performance to revive the hopes of their weary fanbase. At the CLC this year, the True Northers have a 32-7-4 record including the regular season & playoffs, while the Blues 20-18-5 away from their home arena.
So while those numbers provide a bit of hope, the Match Up data is less optimistic after a couple of lop-sided contests helped St. Louis take a lead in most of the categories.
Well, the final day of the month of April provides the Winnipeg Jets players the opportunity to show they are able to rise to the occasion when things matter most. Up until now, the Jets had been at a bit of disadvantage in terms of injured players, missing 2 top six forwards to the Blues’ one. But with the return of Gabe Vilardi, things are now evened up and the hope is that Winnipeg can rediscover their scoring touches by getting the talented winger back on the ice.
That is not all that is required for the True Northers to restore the faith of the White Out crowd, as they will need to tighten things up defensively to assist goaltender Connor Hellebuyck in having a rebound game in between the pipes. While the disappearance of the Jets’ 1st line last game was damaging to the team’s chances of winning, nothing is more important than Bucky ending the night with at least a .920 save percentage.
From the comments on the fan sites I roam, I know that the confidence level is at an season-long low at this point, but as I said in an earlier comment….I won’t totally lose hope until they lay an egg at the Canada Life Centre. So here’s hoping that won’t be tonight and Winnipeg can treat us fans to one of those dominant performances we witnessed throughout the season.
Go Winnipeg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
***14 exclamation marks for the 14 wins the Jets need to lift the Cup.***
