This afternoon's Canadian prairie battle will involve two teams that have really been huge disappointments so far this season. The Winnipeg Jets have not been successful in getting a decent groove going since November, and this has lead to the recent dismissal of their Head Coach Claude Noel. The Edmonton Oilers have been just flat out embarrassing, as they are arguably the worst team in hockey despite all the pre-season hype that they were going to be the team to look out for this season.
Winnipeg has been about as inconsistent as a team can be this year, but their mentality swings have been somewhat predictable. When the coach rants, it is often likely that they start to play a better all around game. When the team gets two wins or more in a row, they start to get comfortable and slack again.
The Jets have impressed so far since Paul Maurice's coaching debut, as they have won both games under his reign. They also scored 10 goals in these two games. The fact is, however, they faced two teams that were pretty bad and were able to pounce early. Phoenix was in a bit of a transition, and not to mention, there is a special kind of motivation for the Jets when those two meet in Winnipeg (History of the Jets and Phoenix taking the original franchise from Winnipeg) on top of the motivation from the debut of their coach. Calgary on the other hand, is not exactly a team that you beat and feel overly accomplished about doing so.
By no means is Edmonton a better team, but the fact that the Oilers are far more offensively potent than both the Flames and the Coyotes will be a bit of a shock to the Jets system. On the flip side, Edmonton is also coming off a game against one of the stingiest defenses in hockey, therefore they will feel like they have a ton of open ice to generate scoring opportunities here.
Although the same argument could be made in the sense that Edmonton has the worst defense in hockey, something has to finally give after the Oilers were embarrassed by a team that was in an extremely offensively challenged situation. It has been game after game of bad defense for Edmonton, but after leaving their newly acquired goaltender high and dry and almost shifting his Goals Against Average significantly, they should be determined to be a little more responsible today. In other words, there should have been a "last straw" incentive coming out of last game.
In essence, this is a game that the Edmonton Oilers must win in order to avoid being furthermore an even bigger laughing stock of the NHL. It will be on National television, and if anything, those kids will be looking to pad their stats. Winnipeg was hungry, they ate, so now the motivation will be on Edmonton's side. Although it can be argued that Winnipeg may have the revenge factor on their side (coming off a 6-2 loss when these two last met, in Edmonton), the main culprit of that game in the eyes of the Jets (Nail Yakupov) will not be in the lineup today.
The Oilers should have the edge here as the underdog.
PLAY : Oilers +145
Winnipeg has been about as inconsistent as a team can be this year, but their mentality swings have been somewhat predictable. When the coach rants, it is often likely that they start to play a better all around game. When the team gets two wins or more in a row, they start to get comfortable and slack again.
The Jets have impressed so far since Paul Maurice's coaching debut, as they have won both games under his reign. They also scored 10 goals in these two games. The fact is, however, they faced two teams that were pretty bad and were able to pounce early. Phoenix was in a bit of a transition, and not to mention, there is a special kind of motivation for the Jets when those two meet in Winnipeg (History of the Jets and Phoenix taking the original franchise from Winnipeg) on top of the motivation from the debut of their coach. Calgary on the other hand, is not exactly a team that you beat and feel overly accomplished about doing so.
By no means is Edmonton a better team, but the fact that the Oilers are far more offensively potent than both the Flames and the Coyotes will be a bit of a shock to the Jets system. On the flip side, Edmonton is also coming off a game against one of the stingiest defenses in hockey, therefore they will feel like they have a ton of open ice to generate scoring opportunities here.
Although the same argument could be made in the sense that Edmonton has the worst defense in hockey, something has to finally give after the Oilers were embarrassed by a team that was in an extremely offensively challenged situation. It has been game after game of bad defense for Edmonton, but after leaving their newly acquired goaltender high and dry and almost shifting his Goals Against Average significantly, they should be determined to be a little more responsible today. In other words, there should have been a "last straw" incentive coming out of last game.
In essence, this is a game that the Edmonton Oilers must win in order to avoid being furthermore an even bigger laughing stock of the NHL. It will be on National television, and if anything, those kids will be looking to pad their stats. Winnipeg was hungry, they ate, so now the motivation will be on Edmonton's side. Although it can be argued that Winnipeg may have the revenge factor on their side (coming off a 6-2 loss when these two last met, in Edmonton), the main culprit of that game in the eyes of the Jets (Nail Yakupov) will not be in the lineup today.
The Oilers should have the edge here as the underdog.
PLAY : Oilers +145