Preview: Winnipeg Jets @ Columbus Blue Jackets

Radio: CJOB680/Power97

The Winnipeg Jets will be back in action on Sunday, traveling to Nationwide Arena for an evening game in Ohio against the Columbus Blue Jackets. His two franchises are on opposite ends of the hockey spectrum, with the Jets sitting at his No. 7 spot.^th Become 1st in NHL while Blue Jackets remain in 29th place^th spot.

Sunday's contest is important for Winnipeg, as both the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche had wins last night, giving them a two-point lead over the Central Division title-chasing Jets. Sunday's game doesn't mean much for Columbus, as they're 17 points out of the Eastern Conference wild-card spot and it's highly unlikely they'll close that gap for the rest of the season.

IllegalCurve reports. conor hellebike (2.34 GAA/.921%) went through his starter routine this morning, and the rest of the lineup doesn't appear to be changing. If that's correct, the player will look like this: Cole Parfetti (31 points), colin miller (9 points), Dylan Samberg (16 points), and Rasmus Kupari (1 point) remains in the press box for another game. The top five scorers for the Winnipeg Jets are: mark scheifele (58 points), josh morrissey (56 points), Nikolai Ehlers (47 points), Kyle Connor (46 points), and tyler toffoli (46 points).Positive of course Gabriel Bilardi The book will remain shelved indefinitely while he battles recent medical problems.

The Columbus Blue Jackets started the season with several former Jets playing, but Patrick Lane He scored 9 points in 18 games before getting injured. jack roslovic The only remaining connection from the trade with the New York Rangers is head coach, pascal vincent. The Jackets coach served as an assistant coach with the Jets for five seasons before becoming the head coach of the Manitoba Moose for the next six seasons, spending 11 years with the Jets franchise.

The Blue Jackets have only one player with 40 or more points this season, Johnny Gaudreau (50 points), but they have a number of players in the 20-39 point range (See ESPN's Columbus player stats below.).

Almost everything that could go wrong for Columbus this season went wrong, but there may have been a little bit of luck this year. February 22^n.d.the team made a move that seemed fairly insignificant when acquiring alexander nylander Acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins to cover a rash of injuries to the forward. Unlike his older brother William, Alex has struggled to make the grade at the NHL level, despite playing in Buffalo, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. He was a starter in the AHL this year, scoring 32 points in 43 games with the Pens' minor league team, but failed to register a point in five games with the big team. But since moving to Ohio State, Nylander has exploded offensively with the Jackets, piling up 11 points in 11 games (Including an impressive 8 goals). To put that in perspective, the 26-year-old had just 14 goals and 34 points (0.35 points per gram) in his previous 98 NHL games, but he hasn't played a full season since joining Columbus. He is trying to reach what is expected to be 60 points.

The Winnipeg Jets are having an offensive outburst against the Anaheim Ducks (5-0 shutout on Friday), Meanwhile, the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the San Jose Sharks 4-2 yesterday to earn a home victory. Today's combatant match-ups include:

As I entered the stats for each game, I noticed that the Winnipeg Jets' shooting numbers gradually increased throughout the season. I don't know if the team will be able to match their great early-season hockey run, but they need to continue to strengthen their team through the remainder of the regular season. Sunday's game is the Jets' last chance to play a bottom eight team in the NHL, so they will make the most of today's matchup.

If you want to know what Columbus Blue Jacket fans are talking about, check out The Cannon's game preview.