Face-off: 2000, 27/01/2022
Venue: Canada Life Centre
Vancouver have twice shaded Winnipeg in tight tussles on home ice this term and another close contest is on the cards at Canada Life Centre.
A change in venue and some notable absentees for the Canucks due to Covid issues will give the Jets hope of coming out on top on this occasion.
However, we prefer 4.1 for the game to go to overtime in our Winnipeg Jets vs Vancouver Canucks predictions, just as it did when they met last month.
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Winnipeg Jets Odds
Winnipeg were edged out 3-2 by Vancouver in November and then 4-3 in a shootout last month, so we know these teams are pretty evenly matched.
The Jets are currently on a five-match losing run but have faced some elite-level opponents and were competitive in all bar one of those fixtures.
They made the mistake of trying to go toe-to-toe with Florida in an offensive battle when going down 5-3 on Tuesday.
“You have to be committed to playing without the puck, you have to be committed to playing a certain way,” said interim head coach Dave Lowry.
“If you get away from it, usually you’re not on the right end of it and that’s just something that we’ll talk about. We’ve got to just clean up some of the details in our game.”
Winnipeg were without key defensemen Josh Morrissey and Dylan DeMelo, but the fact is they need to get back to the gameplan which brought wins at Arizona and Detroit by an aggregate score of 6-1.
Looking at the NHL odds, we like 1.83 for under 5.5 goals in this encounter.
Vancouver Canucks Odds
Vancouver’s Covid problems have been well documented, with two goalies and several of their leading points scorers spending time on the sidelines.
The Canucks have struggled up front but can’t be faulted for effort at the back, pushing Florida and St Louis hard before a 3-2 overtime loss to Edmonton.
They led 2-0 against the Oilers heading into the third period, so that defeat will have hurt.
“It’s one you’ve got to finish off,” said goalscorer Tyler Motte. “We know we’ve dug ourselves a hole, we’ve got to get points and that’s a great example of a time we’ve got to finish the job.”
After starting out with eight wins from nine outings under coach Bruce Boudreau, Vancouver’s last eight games have yielded just two victories.
However, things are starting to clear up on the Covid front, with JT Miller due back here and star goalie Thatcher Demko waiting to get the nod.
Despite that, we feel it is Winnipeg’s turn to sneak home in front and 9.75 they oblige 3-2 overall completes our NHL predictions.
Additional stats
Last result:
WINNIPEG 3-5 Florida
VANCOUVER 2-3 Edmonton (OT)
Head-to-head: Vancouver 4-3 Winnipeg (SO), Vancouver 3-2 Winnipeg
