There haven’t been many slipups for the Western Conference leading Jets, and they face a struggling Hockey Club that’s reeling along a 3-8-2 slide. Utah has surrendered the third-most goals per game (3.46) and second-most goals per 60 minutes at five-on-five (2.95) during the stretch, and No. 1 goalie Karel Vejmelka hasn’t been sharp with a run-of-the-mill .893 save percentage and 3.04 GAA across his nine starts during the run. The Hockey Club is also likely to be down No. 1 defenseman Mikhail Sergachev (upper body) again tonight, and he paces Utah blueliners in minutes per game (25:45) and leads the way with a 53.2 CF%. It’s a big hit to the lineup, with leading goalscorer Dylan Guenther (lower body) also on injured reserve and out indefinitely.
Utah had lost five of six games prior to its 4-2 win over St. Louis on Saturday and averaged just two goals per game over that six-game stretch. Scoring will be even harder to come by against Winnipeg, with Connor Hellebuyck (1.97 GAA, .929 SV%) expected to be between the pipes. Give me the Jets on the road.