When: 7:00 Eastern
Where: Little Caesar’s Arena, Detroit, MI
TV: BSD, TSN3
Radio: 97.1 FM The Ticket
Jets Blog: Arctic Ice Hockey
Whelp, is everyone still having fun? The Wings are 5-11-3 since Thanksgiving and look like they’ve tumbled out of the playoff picture, probably permanently, unless they can put together a run starting tonight against the surprisingly resurgent Winnipeg Jets. The Jets have the best points percentage in the Central and are second only to Vegas in the whole Western Conference. On the bright side, the Wings will take on Winnipeg at home, for whatever home ice advantage is worth in the NHL.
The Jets are led by a trio performing well over point-per-game pace: Kyle Connor and Pierre-Luc Dubois have 49 and 47 in 40 games, respectively, and defenseman Josh Morrisey having a banner season with 46 points in as many games as well. Of note, former Red Wings team dad, Sam Gagner, has amassed 13 points in 37 games, and I say good for him. Always liked Sam.
If the Wings want a shot to win tonight the offense will need to start taking some pressure off Ville Husso and Magnus Hellberg. Over the past four games they’ve scored six goals. I don’t know how to sound more like a dilettante than this: guys, if you want to win hockey games you should try scoring more goals than the other team.