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There were some questions about how a Winnipeg Jets team that remained largely unchanged from the previous season’s iteration would fare after finishing fourth in the Central Division and losing four consecutive games to the Vegas Golden Knights in the opening round of the playoffs. The initial response wasn’t all that encouraging for fans in Manitoba; 10 games into the season, they sat at just a 4-4-2 record, losing two more times in regulation to the Golden Knights in that span.
One of the losses was at the hands of the Montreal Canadiens. Back on October 28, the Jets arrived at the Bell Centre to take on a Habs team on a bit of a roll, and the 4-3 shootout win Montreal earned that night moved their record to 5-2-1 at the time. The Canadiens have slipped from that .688 points percentage. The Jets have gone in the opposite direction.
Since its second loss to Las Vegas on November 2, Winnipeg has won 14 games and lost just five. Their only defeat in the previous seven games was in San Jose when Mackenzie Blackwood made 36 saves in a 2-1 win. Winnipeg now sits second in the Central Division, and ranks sixth in the league with 38 points.
Justin Barron scored the Habs’ first goal in the game at the Bell Centre in October, and had two assists in the one game he played at home versus Winnipeg last year. As he heads to Canada Life Centre for the first time, he’s coming off a two-assist game on Saturday night versus the New York Islanders that brings the defenceman’s point total to 10 points in 27 games, a 30-point pace that he’s maintained from last season to this.
As the Canadiens try to sweep the brother battle between Justin and Jets forward Morgan, they can draw upon their play on the road this season. They’ve earned points in eight of the 12 games they’ve played away from the Bell Centre, offering a bit of hope that these road trips that bookend the Christmas break won’t be as disastrous as they usually are.
The Jets sit where they do for a reason, however, so the first of seven consecutive games away from home won’t be an easy one. Winnipeg is good both offensively and defensively, ranking in the top 10 in both categories. But they are playing right now without Kyle Connor, out with an injury sustained in a knee-on-knee collision. With their top goal-scorer out of action, that’s one less threat the Canadiens will be dealing with, though the players still in the lineup have combined for 11 goals in the past two games without him. Mark Scheifele leads the way with 33 points in 29 games, and Josh Morrissey is again among the most productive defencemen a season after finishing fifth in Norris Trophy voting.
Only one of those 11 goals was recorded on the power play, and if the Jets have one weakness this year, it’s their special-teams play. It’s not quite as bad as in Montreal’s case, but their power-play and penalty-kill efficiency aren’t significant;y better, either. This is a game that will likely be decided at five-on-five, and require the Canadiens to play at a high level for all three periods, which has proven difficult all season long.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — No. 1 Texas will start Arch Manning at quarterback Saturday against Louisiana-Monroe while regular starter Quinn Ewers continues to recover from a strained muscle in his abdomen, coach Steve Sarkisian said Thursday.
It will be the first career start for Manning, a second year freshman. He relieved Ewers in the second quarter last week against UTSA, and passed for four touchdowns and ran for another in a 56-7 Texas victory.
Manning is the son of Cooper Manning, the grandson of former NFL quarterback Archie Manning, and the nephew of Super Bowl-winning QBs Peyton and Eli Manning.
Ewers missed several games over the previous two seasons with shoulder and sternum injuries.
The Longhorns are No. 1 for the first time since 2008 and Saturday’s matchup with the Warhawks is Texas’ last game before the program starts its first SEC schedule against Mississippi State on Sept. 28.
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