The Winnipeg Jets are flying a bit under the radar this season.
There’s plenty of drama going on with other Canadian teams — the Canucks are rolling, the Oilers fired their head coach and Ottawa seems on the verge of doing so, too — so it’s no wonder that there aren’t many people talking about Winnipeg’s strong play of late.
The Jets are 7-5-2 overall, but they’re 6-2-2 in their last 10 games and their underlying metrics paint an impressive picture.
Winnipeg is a -125 favorite on home ice against the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday night.
Devils vs. Jets prediction
(7 p.m. ET. ESPN+)
While Winnipeg seems to have found some good form of late, the opposite is true of the Devils.
New Jersey has been without Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier during this recent slide, but you could see some cracks in the Devils’ armor even before the injury bug bit them.
They were getting wins, but a lot of that success stemmed from Hughes’ heroics and a league-leading power play.
New Jersey’s statistical portfolio still looks strong overall this season, but the goaltending has been lackluster and that’s put a lot of pressure on the offense to never take a night off. That task obviously got a lot harder when the team lost Hughes and Hischier.
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New Jersey’s defensive metrics aren’t ugly, but it is still giving up 3.7 goals per game and has conceded 4+ tallies in eight of 13 contests.
If these teams were both at full strength, you’d make the Devils a road favorite in this spot. But with Hughes and Hischier on the sidelines, New Jersey is without the 1-2 punch down the middle that makes it one of the most dangerous teams in the NHL.
The loss of Hughes and Hischier really shrinks the gap between these two clubs and that makes Winnipeg worth a play as a short favorite.
The Bet: Winnipeg Jets -125 (Caesars)