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Hand Me Down World: Blackhawks at Jets Preview

A long road trip starts in Winnipeg.

Posted on by L_B_R
Credit: Terrence Lee-Imagn Images

The Blackhawks kick off a long road trip on Thursday night up in Canada against the Winnipeg Jets — and franchise icon Jonathan Toews.

The Jets are off to a solid start through their first 10 games, sitting at a 7-3-0 record and looking like a team that’s found its footing early — or at least knows how to lean hard on Connor Hellebuyck until the rest catches up. The Jets are coming off a 4–3 overtime win against the Wild on Tuesday, and it’s a recap that will be familiar to Blackhawks fans: the Jets jumped out to a 2–0 lead in the first, had a down second period when the Wild tied it, and ultimately won in heroic fashion — all while relying heavily on their goalie in the process. Pretty close to some Blackhawks games recently, right?

The similarities to the Blackhawks don’t end there. Offensively, Winnipeg’s been fine with 34 goals scored and 25 allowed, a tidy plus-9 goal differential, which is basically on par with the Blackhawks, who have a plus-7 differential with 33 scored and 26 allowed. Under the hood, though, things look a little less pretty. The Jets are rougher than the Blackhawks in this regard but, at 5-on-5, they’re getting caved in more often than not, with their shot attempt and expected-goals shares sitting under 40 percent. They’re winning thanks to a high shooting percentage (10.71, 6th) and on the back of Hellebuyck with his .926 save percentage (tied for 5th, right behind Spencer Knight). However, at least Chicago is trending up and doing so thanks to the injection of youth into the lineup while Winnipeg has the oldest roster in the league.

As for those older players, the usual suspects are at the top of the point totals for the Jets: Mark Scheifele is already at 15 points (8 G, 7 A), Kyle Connor is at 12 (5 G, 7 A), Gabriel Vilardi is at 8 (2 G, 6 A), and Nino Niederreiter is at 7 (3 G, 4 A). On the back end, Josh Morrissey is up to eight assists and Logan Stanley has two goals and four assists. And of course, there’s Oh Captain, My Captain Toews with a respectable five points (2 G, 3 A) in 10 games. After taking a long break away from the game, Toews signed with his hometown Jets this offseason and has been playing both second and third line center so far. It’ll be an emotional night — his first meeting with the franchise where he spent 16 seasons, won three Stanley Cups, and cemented himself as one of the most respected captains of his era.

Based on the morning skate, Toews will be at 2C for this one:

The Blackhawks may be performatively like the Jets, but their games have certainly been more fun: especially the blowout against the Ottawa Senators. The Blackhawks absolutely lit up the Senators for a 7‑3 win Tuesday night, with Connor Bedard putting on a show with his first career hat trick and an assist to boot. Chicago jumped out to a 4‑0 lead before Ottawa got a little life in the second, but Bedard’s early third-period goal put the Blackhawks back in cruise control. Add in markers from Colton Dach, Louis Crevier, and Frank Nazar, plus a solid 21-save night from Spencer Knight, as well as decent underlying metrics — it was a game that felt equal parts fun and fully deserving. The young core showed some bite, Bedard showed he’s got a flair for the dramatic, and the vibes were definitively chaotic.

With his four-point night, Bedard climbed the points board to sit just outside the top 20. Considering he’s not paired with another young stud or established star, that’s pretty impressive. Likewise, Nazar moved up to be in the top 40 — interestingly, he has the same number of points as Leo Carlsson. It’s still early, with it being only 10 games in, but those two are cementing themselves as some of the top young players in the league. Add in Alex Vlasic and Wyatt Kaiser, the promising start for Sam Rinzel, and Knight being a cheat code in net, and it’s easy to see how a core is starting to form.

Here’s Chicago’s lineup look at the morning skate, with Mikheyev reportedly a game-time decision, per Blashill at the morning skate:

One final note: the Jets’s special teams are both top-10, as they have the eighth best power play (27.3 percent) and the second best penalty kill (90.5 percent) currently. Being careful with penalties could be key for the Blackhawks.

Tale of the Tape

Blackhawks — Statistic — Senators
44.09% (32nd) — 5-on-5 Corsi For — 50.08% (15th)
43.03% (32nd) — 5-on-5 Expected goals for — 49.39% (19th)
2.73 (26th) — Goals per game — 2.95 (18th)
3.56 (31st) — Goals against per game — 2.83 (13rd)
44.8% (31st) — Faceoffs — 53.1% (4th)
24.9% (7th) — Power play — 23.8% (11th)
79.3% (14th) — Penalty kill — 77.7% (19th)
(All stats from last season)

How to watch

When: 7 p.m. CT
Where: Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg
TV: CHSN
Webstream: ESPN+
Radio: WGN 720

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