The Winnipeg Jets are coming to town for the first time in their newest incarnation after the Atlanta Thrashers moved to Winnipeg during the offseason. While the name and the uniform may have changed, the team that is wearing them is still the same Atlanta Thrashers team that finished 12th in the Eastern Conference last year. The Sabres had a good record against the Thrashers in their last 10 games at home, going 6-1-3 over that stretch.
The biggest question surrounding the Sabres is who is going to be in net for the Buffalo Sabres to start the game. After practice on Monday, Ryan Miller met with the media and explained his frustration over the last couple of days after being pulled against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night:
“I’m here to win,” Miller said Monday. “That’s the emotion you get from me. If I’m discouraged, if I’m [ticked] off, that’s just how it is. I want to win. I don’t want to be out there getting scored on. I don’t want to be pulled out of a game. I want to, you know, I want to [expletive] win the game.”
Jhonas Enroth has yet to lose a game this season, going 4-0 with a 1.41 goals against average and .952 save percentage compared to Miller’s 4-5 record, 2.48 GAA, and .922 SV%. The team’s starter hasn’t been revealed at the time of writing but it after these comments, it would make sense to stick Miller out there and get his confidence back against a team that is still struggling on the ice.
The Jets are finishing off their longest road trip of the season and are coming off a 3-0 thrashing from the Rangers on Sunday night. The Jets are suffering a power outage of their own, with this stat coming from the Winnipeg Free Press:
The Jets have been held scoreless twice on this current road trip and limited to just one goal or less in six of their 14 games this season. Of the team’s 35 goals this year, 25 have come from just six players: Evander Kane, Jim Slater and Kyle Wellwood — five each — with four from Alex Burmistrov and three from captain Andrew Ladd and Nik Antropov.
Game time is 7:00 pm with the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame ceremony to happen before the game.