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The Winnipeg Jets have played just once in the past five days — a solid 6-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night — and will now hit the ice twice in a 24-hour span to close out a five-game homestand.
An odd bit of scheduling, for sure. With a 2-1-0 record so far, they’ll try to end it on a high note as they face the Buffalo Sabres tonight, followed by the Arizona Coyotes Saturday evening.
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“We want to finish off with two wins here before we go on the road,” defenceman Dylan Samberg told the Free Press. “It’s always a big confidence booster, especially when we’re going on the road. We need to really focus on our first period because we haven’t had a game in a few days.”
It’s a battle of the former job share partners in net, with Connor Hellebuyck facing old friend Eric Comrie.
It looks like veteran defenceman Nate Schmidt will be a healthy scratch for the second time this season, while forward Axel Jonsson-Fjallby is expected to play his first game with the Jets this year after getting called up from the Manitoba Moose to replace the injured Rasmus Kupari. David Gustafsson also returns to the lineup after viewing last game from the press box.
For the visitors, they’ll be without top scorer Tage Thompson (47 goals, 47 assists last season) after he suffered a wrist injury earlier this week that is expected to sideline him for a month.
Here’s some additional information to get you set:
FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: It’s going to be a blast getting to see Zach Benson in action tonight. The former Winnipeg Ice superstar — he had 98 points in 60 regular-season games with the now relocated Western Hockey League club last year — has made quite an impression in Buffalo after getting drafted 13th-overall by the Sabres last summer.
The 18-year-old dazzled in training camp and appeared in six games this year, recording two assists, before suffering a lower-body ailment. Talk about good timing: He’s coming off the injured list tonight.
Buffalo has lost two straight games by a combined score of 9-2 against the Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins, so I’d expect them to come out with a purpose tonight in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
As for the Jets, they’ve had plenty of time this week for rest, recovery and working on their game, which continues to trend in a very promising direction. As Samberg noted above, a strong start should be a focus — especially with a fairly fragile opponent that is now facing life without a huge offensive weapon in Thompson.
“We want to finish off with two wins here before we go on the road,” defenceman Dylan Samberg told the Free Press. (Fred Greenslade / The Canadian Press files)
KEN SAYS: By producing seven goals and 11 points during his past five games, Jets left-winger Kyle Connor is battling Auston Matthews and Brock Boeser for the Rocket Richard Trophy, but he’s also within seven points of the NHL scoring lead for the Art Ross Trophy. The Jets top line with Connor, Mark Scheifele and Alex Iafallo has clearly found its collective stride and they will be looking to keep that going against the Sabres.
Speaking of hot streaks, Cole Perfetti has his point streak up to seven games and he’ll be looking to extend that. Nikolaj Ehlers has looked more like himself lately and that’s an important development for the Jets, who will make several changes as they return to the more traditional personnel deployment with 12 forwards and six D-men.
Logan Stanley, who was the seventh defencemen against the Devils, played just under 10 minutes in that game and remains in the lineup over Schmidt. He’s expected to be paired with Samberg.
The Sabres are a young team on the rise and boast plenty of skill, even without Thompson in the lineup. They boast a legitimate Norris Trophy candidate in Rasmus Dahlin, who has three goals and 11 points in 16 games while averaging north of 24 minutes of ice time per game.
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