The Nashville Predators continue their wildcard hunt with a trip up north today. The Jets are division rivals, but solidly placed in a divisional spot; as Bryan said in the playoff picture preview, they need the win, not for the Jets to lose (though, obviously, they also need the Jets to lose to get the win).
Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey lead the team in points, with Scheifele’s 57 coming from well-balanced contributions and Morrissey’s 53 coming mostly from an impressive 45 assists. The goals leader is Kyle Connor, with 27 (and 45 points) in just 48 games; he’s scoring at an impressive clip.
Obviously, one of the biggest stories of the Jets’ success this season is their goaltending. Connor Hellebuyck has been phenomenal, putting up a .922 sv% under a heavy workload, and backup Laurent Brossoit hasn’t let the team down, with a .924 sv% during his starts. The Jets’ defense has been good, except on the penalty kill, but Hellebuyck has turned good into amazing.
Offensively the team has had a rougher time, especially on the power play; tonight’s matchup could easily turn into a goaltending duel.
The game airs at 6:30 Central on Bally Sports South and 102.5 The Game.
Statistics from naturalstattrick.com. Additional background from hockeyviz.com.