Game 53: Winnipeg Jets vs Tampa Bay Lightning pre-game report

The Jets got back into the win column to kick off this four-game road trip when they defeated the Devils in New Jersey on Tuesday. That improved them to 6-2-2 in their last ten games which is the second best stretch of games they had this season. Of course if they want to have a sniff of the playoffs they cannot afford to take their foot off the gas and as you’ll read below they are gonna have to be their best to beat the best.

Especially not tonight in Tampa taking on the 8-1-1 Lightning who sit atop the Eastern Conference. About the only good news for the visitors is that the Bolts have been a much better road team (19-5-4) than they have been at home (14-9-0). Of course they are 15-1-1 over their last 17 games so take any “good news” with an extreme grain of salt. They are one of the highest scoring teams in the NHL and have stolen the Jets title as stingiest team allowing a measly 130 goals against (18 fewer than the next closest team).

Somewhat surprisingly given the above their special teams feature the 13th overall power play and the third best penalty kill in the league.

A former Jets draft pick (Simon Lundmark, 2019 2nd) made his NHL debut for Tampa five days ago playing 16:45 but he’d been reassigned back to Syracuse so will miss a chance to play his old team. He signed a two-year deal with the Lightning back in July.

Skate news:

Starts at 10:30 AM CST.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

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

Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Salomonsson
Stanley-Schenn

Hellebuyck & Comrie

Lightning projected lines & D pairs:

Hagel – Cirelli – Kucherov
Guentzel – James – Goncalves
Girgensons – Gourde – Holmberg
Bjorkstrand – Paul – Finley

Moser – Raddysh
D’Astous – Cernak
Carlile – Crozier

Johansson & Vasilevskiy

Coach media availability:

To follow.

Odds:

This matchup leans toward Tampa Bay on paper, with the Lightning carrying the look of a clear favourite, especially playing at home. Winnipeg arrives with some momentum and has shown it can hang around against strong opponents, but facing one of the league’s elite presents a much steeper test. For the Jets, this shapes up as a game where structure, patience, and capitalizing on limited chances will be essential if they want to tilt the balance against expectation. 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