Game 65: Winnipeg Jets vs Colorado Avalanche pre-game report

Amazing how much can change in a week as the Jets were feeling good after the Olympic break having taken their playoff deficit from 11 points back down to five which included a win last Saturday night. Fast forward a week and they’ve lost their last two games in regulation which could have seen them significantly narrow the gap but instead finds them seven back of the final wild card spot. The reality is their strength of schedule is quite difficult for the remaining games of the schedule including three more contests against the league best Avalanche.

Colorado comes into the game red-hot, which is pretty much the way they have been all season long. They sit atop the NHL with 97 points. They’ve scored the most goals in the league while also giving up the fewest against which combines to give them an astronomical +86 goal differentials.

Skate news:

No morning skate.

Jets projected lines & D pairs:

Connor-Scheifele-Iafallo
Perfetti-Lowry-Vilardi
Nyquist-Toews-Rosén
Koepke-Barron-Lambert

Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Salomonsson
Fleury-Bryson

Hellebuyck

Avalanche projected lines & D pairs:

Kadri – MacKinnon – Necas
Kiviranta -Nelson -Nichushkin
Kelly -Drury-Roy
Brindley – Bardakov

Toews-Makar
Manson -Burns
Kulak -Malinski
Blankenburg

Blackwood/Wedgewood

Odds:

The Jets will try to halt a two-game slide as they continue their homestand against the Avalanche, who arrive as the NHL’s hottest team with eight wins in their last ten. With Winnipeg’s playoff hopes already fragile, the urgency to collect points is only growing. Colorado has been one of the league’s most dominant clubs all season, which is reflected in the betting markets where the Avalanche enter as clear favorites, leaving the Jets looking to play spoiler on home ice. For the latest Winnipeg Jets hockey odds, visit NHL betting site Betway.

Up Next:

Puck drop is at 3 PM CT. 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 5:40 PM CT as we discuss and analyze the results of the game.