The Winnipeg Jets have won five of their last seven matchups against the Buffalo Sabres, including three straight wins on the road
The Winnipeg Jets travel to the Nickel City on Thursday to take on the hungry Sabres team in a crucial game that both sides will want to win. The Jets have dropped four straight games after coming off a draining road trip while the Sabres have also lost four straight with three of the defeats coming at home. Buffalo will be looking to get a key victory without arguably their best player in captain Rasmus Dahlin, who will be sidelined with back spasms.
They will however, start star netminder Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen opposite Connor Hellebuyck with both netminders rep goals against averages under 2.69 which means it should result in a low-scoring game. The Jets have won five of their last seven meetings with the Sabres, including three straight wins on the road in Buffalo and four of the seven games totalling under six goals.
It doesn't help that Buffalo is 6-7-1 at home this season with a 3.29 goals against average that ranks worse than the likes of the Blackhawks, Islanders and Habs. Winnipeg is 9-6-0 on the road with the eighth-best goals per game average at 3.40 this season. They hope to see a big game out of Mason Appleton, who has seen production on his line from Adam Lowry and Nino Niederreiter with seven combined goals over their last eight games.
However, he hasn't contributed much himself as of late with just one point over that eight game stretch and currently rides a 15-game goal drought. Luckily, he normally excels in this matchup with four goals and an assist for five points over his last four games against Buffalo. The Jets backend has been crippled during their four-game losing streak for 15 goals allowed.
They will need to pay extra close attention to winger Alex Tuch, who's been heating up lately with four goals and seven assists for 11 points over his last ten games. He plays with centre Tage Thompson and the pair have been lethal with 21 combined goals this season. It should make for an exciting matchup as both teams desperately want to win.
You catch the game on Sportsnet at 6:00 PM MT, or catch the live broadcast on Power 97, the FM home of the Winnipeg Jets. If you are in the Buffalo area, tickets are very reasonable for Jets versus Sabres with the cheapest pair of tickets selling for $20USD.