Feb 1, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Winnipeg Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey (44) scores the game winning goal in overtime on Washington Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson (48) as Capitals center Connor McMichael (24) defends at Capital One Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images
After dealing with the disappointment of a loss to a bottom 5 NHL team in their last contest, the Winnipeg Jets have to regroup quickly in preparation for a match against the Washington Capitals. The Best of the West versus the Beast of the East type game. The #1 ranked Caps visiting the #2 ranked Jets with the President’s Trophy possibly on the line. Our squad shouldn’t need any “bulletin material” to get hyped for this game.
Winnipeg (48-19-4) will have to overcome some injuries to key players like winger Gabriel Vilardi & defenseman Neal Pionk. That has forced head coach Scott Arniel to alter the lineup to try to get the best out of his players, including Alex Iafallo moving up to the top forward line and Rasmus Kupari taking his spot on the 4th line.
The Jets are 25-6-4 at the Canada Life Centre in 2024-25 and have gone 9-5-1 since the 4 Nations tournament concluded. The True Northers have the NHL’s 2nd best offense (246) & the league’s best defense (170), as well as the most effective powerplay (30.1%). In their last four outings, Winnipeg has had to go to extra time to win a couple games and gave up 5+ goals against in two losses.
Washington (47-15-8) isn’t dealing with any new injuries at this point of the season, though they have been without Nicklas Backstrom, TJ Oshie, & Sonny Milano (long-term injury reserve) all season.
The Capitals have been good on the road, with a 23-8-2 record (best in NHL), and have gone 11-4-0 since the 4 Nations ended. The Caps have the NHL’s best offense (257), the league’s 3rd best defense (181), & the 3rd most effective penalty killers (82.8%). Washington has been rolling along after being shutout by the Los Angeles Kings five games ago, picking up four straight victories while out-scoring the opposition 18 to 7.
Below is how PuckPedia is predicting the coaching staff to line up the players on Tuesday night:
*****
The Winnipeg Jets have two players (Kyle Connor/Mark Scheifele) with more than 70 points this season, a couple more forwards in the 60’s (Nikolaj Ehlers/Gabriel Vilardi), and defenseman Josh Morrissey in the 50 point range.
The Washington Capitals have three forwards with at least 60 points (Dylan Strome/Aliaksei Protas/Pierre-Luc Dubois) and a couple more on the cusp of that range (Alex Ovechkin/Tom Wilson), plus Connor McMichael who sits in the mid-50’s.
Time to check out how the franchises stack up head-to-head based on this year’s stats….take some time to review AIH’s Match Up graphic and ESPN’s look at the goalies.
It was almost 2 months ago that the Jets & Capitals met for the first time this season and the visiting Winnipeggers walked away with a 5-4 overtime win. Who will come out on top at the CLC on Tuesday??
The Jets’ magic number remains at 9 as the Dallas Stars picked up another win on Monday…so it might be time for Winnipeg to go on another long winning streak to lock up the top spot in the Central. Only 11 more games to go….six in Manitoba and 5 on the road.
The last time the Jets faced a “pivotal moment” game, they impressed with a 4-1 victory over the Dallas Stars….can they find that level of play again on Tuesday? Puck drops at 7 pm Central…in the meantime, lets hear your thoughts, concerns, predictions, or just general musing in the Comment section below.
Go Winnipeg!!!!!!!
