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Judson Rempel The Hockey Writers

Published on Tuesday, March 21, 2017

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Preview: Jets & Flyers Battle for Pride in Winnipeg

Yesterday was the first official day of spring, but for the Philadelphia Flyers and the Winnipeg Jets, summer is just around the corner as both sit well back of a playoff spot with only a handful of games remaining.

The Jets and Flyers are looking at the strong, if not guaranteed, possibility that they will not be in the playoffs. Sports Club Stats gives them both a less than 1% chance to make the playoffs. The Jets are starting to shut down players, with Shawn Matthias being sent for season-ending surgery, while Tyler Myers, Tobias Enstrom and Jacob Trouba remain injured. The Jets called up Nelson Nogier from the Manitoba Moose on an emergency basis with all the injuries on the backend.

The Flyers, meanwhile, haven’t had the same troubles on the injury front. Steve Mason appeared to get injured on Thursday night but just had the cramps. The Flyers lost to the New Jersey Devils in that game 6-2, before coming back to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3. Flyers captain, Claude Giroux, has told the media that “no one’s going to give up here til the end of the season.” [Inquirer]

Philadelphia Flyers at Winnipeg Jets

MTS Centre – 7:00 p.m. CST

Broadcast channels – TSN3, CSN-PH

2016-17 Season Series: Nov. 17 – Winnipeg (2) at Philadelphia (5)

Winnipeg Jets – 32-33-7 – 71 Points

Home Record: 17-18-1

Hot Players: Josh Morrissey, Blake Wheeler

Key Injuries: Tyler Myers, Ondrej Pavelec, Tobias Enstrom, Jacob Trouba, Shawn Matthias, Paul Postma

Projected Lines:

Forwards

Nikolaj Ehlers – Brian Little – Patrik Laine

Mathieu Perreault – Mark Scheifele – Blake Wheeler

Andrew Copp – Adam Lowry – Joel Armia

Marko Dano – Nic Petan – Chris Thorburn

Defense

Josh Morrissey – Ben Chiarot

Julian Melchiori – Dustin Byfuglien

Mark Stuart – Brian Strait

Starting Goaltender

Connor Hellebuyck (expected)

Philadelphia Flyers – 33-30-8 – 74 Points

Away Record: 12-19-4

Hot Players: Brayden Schenn, Sean Couturier

Key Injuries: Michael Raffl, Brandon Manning, Nick Cousins

Projected Lines:

Forwards

Jordan Weal – Claude Giroux – Wayne Simmonds

Travis Konecny – Valtteri Filppula – Jakub Voracek

Brayden Schenn – Sean Couturier – Matt Read

Chris VandeVelde – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Roman Lybimov

Defense

Ivan Provorov – Andrew MacDonald

Michael Del Zotto – Radko Gudas

Nick Schultz – Shayne Gostisbehere

Starting Goaltender

Steve Mason (expected)

Game Notes

1) The Jets have gone back to the offence over the past month, scoring 51 goals in 14 games. That ties them for second in the NHL. In the past three games, the Jets have scored at least four goals, and in the past 14 games, they have scored three or more 12 times.

While 10 of the goals have come from the stick of Patrik Laine, 15 other players have also found the net during that stretch, while the Jets shooting percentage has hovered around 11.8%. Their defensive depth has been tested and beaten, but their offense has made up for it.

2) Steve Mason loves playing the Jets. He is 6-0-1 in his career with a 1.33 GAA and .945 save percentage. He’s expected to start against a highly offensive team, one that the Jets aren’t used to having. The Flyers are looking for their seventh straight win against the Jets, having outscored them 22-10 over the past six.

3) Both teams have gone with the draft and develop model and it shows on their rosters and in their minor league teams. In 2011, the Flyers selected Sean Couturier, while the Jets took Mark Scheifele with the next pick. In 2012, the Jets got Jacob Trouba, who is out with a minor injury. In that same draft, the Flyers picked up Shayne Gostisbehere, who dominated in his rookie year. 2013 saw the Jets add Josh Morrissey and Nikolaj Ehlers in 2014. In the 2015 draft, the Flyers selected Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny in the first round. Of course, the Jets won the lottery and picked up Patrik Laine in 2016.

Catch the game tonight at 7:00 PM local time, and comment below with your predictions for the final score.


Tagged in this article

Claude Giroux Sean Couturier Josh Morrissey Philadelphia Flyers Winnipeg Jets National Hockey League
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