USA Today Sports
Tonight, the Vegas Golden Knights take on the Winnipeg Jets, in a game between two teams hungry for a win. Winnipeg is bound to come out firing, after an embarassing 7-1 loss on Wednesday in Colorado.
Vegas will be sending out Marc-Andre Fleury for his second straight start, following a two-game break earlier this week. The rest seemed to work well as Fleury played a solid game against a powerful Boston Bruins lineup. In the loss, Fleury stopped 25 of 27 shots, not to mention making four saves on six shootout attempts.
Tonight's contest features a tale of two power plays. Winnipeg boasts a solid powerplay, highlighted by dynamic forwards Mark Scheifele, Patrick Laine, and Kyle Connor. Laine is an interesting case this season, as his inconsistency has been an ongoing problem for Winnipeg. Laine, one of the elite snipers in the league, has just one goal since the ball dropped on December 31st. Laine was an integral part of the Winnipeg attack last year, in their Western Conference finalist campaign. In order to get back to that level, the Jets need Laine to produce.
Depsite Laine's disappearing act, the Jets still operate at 24.73% with a man-advantage. Vegas on the other hand is struggling on the power play, to a clip of 17.39%. Their power play woes have been well documented and discussed, with extra attention going to the two units in recent practices. Speaking with Brandon Pirri following the morning skate, he expressed a need to stay out of the box because of Winnipeg's "deadly first unit". During the morning skate, both Pirri and Max Pacioretty were working one-timers from the faceoff circles. When asked if that will be a focus tonight on the man-advantage, Pirri said "Absolutely, you have to get the shot off quick and when there's traffic, you've got to hit the net, and hope for the best".
Winnipeg has good goaltending, despite a 7-1 game in Colorado that suggests the opposite. Both starter Connor Hellebuyck and backup Laurent Brossoit have had their moments against this Vegas team. Brossoit was the goalie of record in a 4-1 Winnipeg win over Vegas last month, making 43 saves on 44 shots. That game was just over a month ago, on January 15th, but is one in a long list of games that Vegas was done in by a hot goaltender. Head coach Gerard Gallant himself said, "I'm tired of saying the goalie was the first star again" following the 3-2 shootout loss to Boston on Wednesday night. Both he and the players are ready for a motivated Winnipeg team, coming off that stinker against the Avalance. Is Gallant worried about a motivated Jets team coming into town tonight, hungry for a win? "I want their best shot tonight......I want to see a good game".
Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm this evening at the T-Mobile Arena. Without another snow storm on the horizon, will Winnipeg's #WPGWhiteout come into town and derail the Golden Knights? That remains to be seen, but in a Western Conference Finals rematch, between two hungry teams, fans are certainly in for an entertaining tilt this evening.
Be sure to follow me on Twitter where I will be Tweeting game updates all night. Come join the conversation!
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