Game 35: Winnipeg Jets vs Utah Mammoth pre-game report

The Jets enter today’s action in a four-way tie for last place in the entire NHL. The team that won the Presidents’ Trophy last season finds themselves five points back of the second wild card spot. This Winnipeg team has 17 regulation losses in 34 games. Last year they picked up their 17th loss in game 65.

So as you might imagine things are not going swimmingly in Manitoba (or outside of it). They have a -3 goal differential, are 2-6-2 in their last ten and have seen their power play and penalty kill drop.

They take on a Mammoth team that are 5-5-0 in their last ten games and who sit tied for the final wild card spot.

Skate news:

No morning skate.

Warm-up news:

Only change was Colin Miller coming in for Haydn Fleury.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Connor-Scheifele-Nyquist
Perfetti-Namestnikov-Vilardi
Barron-Lowry-Iafallo
Niederreiter-Toews-Pearson

Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Stanley-Miller

Hellebuyck

Mammoth projected lines & D pairs:

Keller – Schmaltz – Peterka
Crouse – Hayton – Guenther
Carcone – McBain – But
O’Brien – Stenlund – Yamamoto

Sergachev – Durzi
Schmidt – Marino
Cole – DeSimome
Valimaki – Maatta

Odds:

Oddsmakers have the Mammoth installed as fan favourites. The Jets will need a sharp, disciplined road effort to keep pace with a Mammoth team that plays with confidence and feeds off early pressure. If Winnipeg can settle in and withstand the initial push, they may stay competitive, but Utah’s home-ice edge and overall form give the Mammoth the upper hand to control the flow of play. For the latest Winnipeg Jets hockey odds, visit NHL betting site Betway.

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 6 PM CST. Be sure to head over to illegalcurve.com following the game for a recap of the action. You can join us on our YouTube channel for the Illegal Curve Post-Game Show around 8:40 PM CST as we discuss and analyze the results of the game.