The Blue Jackets will play in the second half of a back-to-back tonight, as they are in Winnipeg to take on the Jets.
Despite a lackluster performance at home against Montreal last night, the Jackets come into this one on the back of a win. That was thanks to Jet Greaves, who showed up and stood tall against a late Canadiens onslaught.
The team will nee their legs tonight, as this one is a quick turn-around. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:00PM Eastern - just 24 and a half hours after their last start. They had to travel overnight, across the border and through customs, into a new time zone.
It's hardly fair, but it's nothing this team hasn't faced thus far. This is the 5th such occurrence of back-to-back starts this season. The Jackets are 3-1-0 through their first four of these, which is very encouraging.
With that said, it will not be easy. The Winnipeg Jets are at the peak of their game right now, and might be Stanley Cup contenders next spring.
They play the style of hockey that the Blue Jackets are aspiring to achieve. The difference is, the Jets are more experienced, and they have one of the best goaltenders in the entire league.
The Opponent
The Jets have been off since Saturday, when they beat the Flames in Calgary, 4-3 in a shootout. That brings their record to 11-7-0 (22 points), good enough for third in the Central Division.
This team plays a heavy, tight checking system that relies on its structure to smother opponents. When that system is beaten, they can fall back on reining Vezina and Hart Trophy winning goaltender Connor Hellebuyck to make the save.
Through 14 starts this season, he's 8-6-0 with a 2.51 goals against average and .913% save percentage. The good news is, the Jackets will face the backup tonight, with Eric Comrie set to make his 5th start.
He's 3-1-0 on the season, with a .908% save percentage and 2.75GAA. He has similar numbers against the CBJ in his career: 3-1-0, .903%, 3.03GAA.
All of that talk about defense is not to say that this team cannot score. Up front, they have just enough skill to make teams pay for any mistakes.
Top line center Mark Scheifele is big, mean, and he can score. He leads the Jets with 11 goals and 24 points through 18 games played. Just behind him is Kyle Connor, who is one of the game's most electrifying scoring wingers, with 10 goals and 22 points.
Sitting third in scoring is defensemen Josh Morrissey (3-6-19), then it's a fair drop-off to Gabriel Vilardi (6-8-14) and Nino Niederreiter (4-7-11). They also have former Jacket Gustav Nyquist, who has just 5 assists on the season. We all know he's a threat to find the scoresheet against his former team tonight.
Overall, this team is very disciplined under head coach Scott Arniel. They are big, deep, and have very few weaknesses that can be exploited.
The Good Guys
Head coach Dean Evason will make just two adjustments from last night. Luca del bel Belluz will return to the lineup in place of Yegor Chinakhov; and Elvis Merzlikins will make his first start in goal since November 8th.
Tough to find any fault in this reasoning. The second line was caved in last night, and they finished a combined -7. Unfortunately, Chinakhov becomes the odd man out yet again, which is fine. I didn't think he did anything special last night, so it's on his shoulders to try to work his way back up again.
Meanwhile, Merzlikins replaces Greaves, who will almost definitely need the night off after facing 65 shots over the last two games - both of which went to a shootout.
Elvis has been fantastic for this team on these back-to-back starts so far. Hopefully he can continue that trend tonight against a really difficult opponent.
Three Keys to Success
1. Be patient. This Winnipeg team is going to defend well. The Jackets can't expect to score a ton of goals tonight. The only way to win, will be to stick to their structure and hope to pounce on a mistake. If they try to open the game up, they are going to get burned on a mistake of their own. Let the Jets make this game boring. Beat them at it, in fact.
2. Play the full 60 without backing off. Last night's game went from 3-1 to a nail biter in the shootout, because the Jackets stopped forechecking. Just stick to what works best and let the game play out that way.
3. Make it a 5 on 5 game. The Jets are 8th in the NHL in both power-play (24.1%) and penalty kill (84%) efficiency. While the Blue Jackets have been improving in both departments, they would be ill advised to test either unit tonight.
It's a late puck drop from Winnipeg, but not so late that we won't be able to watch the whole thing live on a weeknight. Hopefully the Jackets can give us a positive reason to stay tuned in for the entirety.