The Winnipeg Jets were able to end their 4 game losing streak and end the month of November with a win over the Nashville Predators. As the calendar flips over to December, the True Northers are preparing to face the Buffalo Sabres in New York state tonight, with a puck drop expected around 6:30 pm. If you were hoping to catch the action, I hope that you have a Prime membership or know a good streaming site.

Both the Jets (13-11-0) and Sabres (10-11-4) are coming into action on one game winning streaks, but the hometown club received some great news with their top center, Josh Norris, being available for the first time this season. Unfortunately, the True Northers didn’t get such luck, as both defenseman Neal Pionk & goalie Connor Hellebuyck remain out of the line up.

Buffalo has been mainly getting their scoring from the likes of Alex Tuch (22 pts), Tage Thompson (21), Josh Doan (16), Rasmus Dahlin (16), & Ryan McLeod (14). Although, the Sabres do get secondary production as well, with 10 players with a minimum of 9 points.

Winnipeg’s top 4 players have been performing very well, with Mark Scheifele (31 pts), Kyle Connor (29), Josh Morrissey (23), & Gabriel Vilardi (21) getting their names on scoresheets often. Besides Swiss Army knife Nino Niederreiter (15), the rest of the Jets’ skaters have been squeezing their sticks too hard.

Let’s continue our look at Winnipeg & Buffalo by checking out ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers for tonight’s late night game:

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The stats are fairly close across the board when you compare the Jets & Sabres…..except Winnipeg having more success on the powerplay. Buffalo’s 2nd best in the NHL penalty killers might be able to nullify that though.

From the sounds of it, doesn’t appear that coach Scott Arniel will be making any changes from the roster that won against the Preds, so rookie Elias Salomonsson will have to watch this one from the press box. Here is how PuckPedia has the predicted line ups for tonight’s clash:

WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP

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BUFFALO SABRES LINE UP

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The Winnipeg Jets are currently holding the Western Conference’s final wildcard spot if you went by win percentage instead of actual points, while the Buffalo Sabres sit as the worst franchise in the East….though they are only 5 points out of a wildcard spot.

That is all I have time for during my lunch break….let me hear any pre-game thoughts you all might have in the Comment section below. Cheers.

Go Winnipeg!!!!!

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POST-GAME INFO

Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)

FINAL SCORE:  

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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)

Expected Goals (all): 

Expected Goals (5on5): 

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BOJA’S Post-Game Thoughts:

Not exactly sure if I will stay up late enough to add my thoughts once the game is over, but I will at least add the summary & stats to the article before I hit the hay. Go Jets!!!