The Nashville Predators and Winnipeg Jets are meeting for the third time in three weeks tonight. It comes after the Predators willed themselves to a win against one of the leagues current powerhouses, and the Jets, well, did the opposite.
Just going by the standings, the few games are against the weakest opponents of the road trip. Putting up a quality game against a division opponent will set the table for a handful of Metropolitan division match ups next week. The Metro has been laughably bad, except for those pesky Penguins. Alas, I’m getting ahead of myself.
As far as tonight is concerned, the trend that has developed over the last several games is good offense, but questionable defense and goaltending. The fact that Nashville is almost break even in the possession metrics matches the good old fashioned eye test. Every game seems to bring stretches of good, solid play followed by a stretch of headless chicken emulation. That type of play already cost them one win on this road trip.
The Stats
| Nashville Predators | Winnipeg Jets | |||
| Record | 8-5-2 | 16th | 6-9-2 | 24th |
| GF/Game | 2.47 | 21st | 2.24 | 24th |
| GA/Game | 2.80 | 19th | 2.94 | 24th |
| 5-on-5 Close SF/60 | 30.3 | 14th | 30.6 | 13th |
| 5-on-5 Close SA/60 | 28.4 | 11th | 35.2 | 26th |
| Fenwick Close | 51.50 | 10th | 46.80 | 24th |
| 5-on-5 Close Save % | .929 | 10th | .910 | 22nd |
| 5-on-4 GF/60 | 7.8 | 9th | 2.5 | 29th |
| # of PP’s/Gm | 3.00 | 27th | 3.71 | 11th |
| 4-on-5 GA/60 | 7.0 | 19th | 5.5 | 12th |
| # of PK’s/Gm | 3.40 | 13th | 3.88 | 24th |
The Winnipeg Jets
Evander Kane hasn’t been in the lineup for the past few games. He has been skating, and seemed poised to return to duty against Chicago, but sat out last minute. There is a good possibility he suits up tonight, but it will likely be a game time decision.
While he got his helmet back in a reasonable amount of time, there’s no word on if Adam Pardy has gotten the beer smell off of his jersey and equipment. Don’t forget to click over to Arctic Ice Hockey while you wait for the puck to drop.
The Nashville Predators
Don’t look now, but the Nashville Predators are among the top five best teams on the power play. You heard that right. They are currently sitting at fourth in the league, clicking at an impressive 24.4% when up a man. Considering Colorado was the second best team on the PK at the time of the last game, it wouldn’t be unfair to expect it to keep producing.
Taylor Beck might get his first shot of NHL action this season, as he is set to meet the team in Winnipeg after getting called up from the A. There is no timetable on his stay (or Forsberg’s for that matter) but after what he did at the tail end of last year, it will be interesting how he performs with guys like Colin Wilson, Patric Hornqvist, and Viktor Stalberg in the lineup.
Game time is 7:00 p.m. CST, and Sports South has you covered on the television side.
More from On the Forecheck:
- Friday’s Dump & Chase: Hello (Again) Winnipeg!
- Nashville Predators News: Filip Forsberg Sent to Milwaukee, Taylor Beck Called Up
- Animated GIF: Winnipeg’s Adam Pardy Loses His Helmet to Chicago Fan
- Report: Pekka Rinne Hip Infection To Keep Him Out 6-8 Weeks
- Jason Arnott Retires: Former Nashville Predators Captain Hangs Up His Skates/