Jets vs. Canucks NHL Odds, Preview and Prediction (Archive)
The Vancouver Canucks will have an advantage Friday night against the visiting Jets because Winnipeg will be on the second of a back-to-back. Which way to lean at BMR’s top-rated sportsbooks?
Winnipeg Jets vs. Vancouver Canucks
Friday, November 19, 2021 – 10:00 PM EST at Rogers Arena
What an unusual NHL schedule for Friday with just two games and both at 10 p.m. EST – there’s Avalanche at Kraken and this all-Canadian matchup between the Jets and Canucks. Does the league not want to grow its product by perhaps having a couple of East Coast teams playing at 7 p.m. EST? Granted, Fridays are always a bit slow because Saturdays are so busy.
Friday is the first meeting of the season between the teams. They are in different divisions but were clumped in the same one last year with all the other Canadian clubs due to the pandemic. Winnipeg won six of nine last season vs. the Canucks and all four in Vancouver by an average score of 3.8-1.0.
The Jets are 20-6 on the NHL picks in the past 26 meetings. The total has gone under in nine of the past 12.
Winnipeg Will Start Backup Goalie
The Jets had a three-game winning streak snapped in a 2-1 shootout loss in Edmonton on Thursday. Nikolaj Ehlers had the lone Winnipeg goal, his fifth of the year, at 13:57 of the third, but the Oilers’ Connor McDavid tied it less than a minute later. Ehlers has a four-game point streak with two goals and two assists in that span.
Winnipeg had a great chance to win late in regulation and early in OT as it had a power play for the final 44 seconds of regulation and 3:16 of overtime but couldn’t score. The team went 0-for-5 with the man advantage overall and ranks middle of the pack at 19.1 percent on the power play on the season.
Connor Hellebuyck stopped 31-of-32 shots in the tough-luck loss. It is expected that No. 2 Eric Comrie will start this game, though. The 26-year-old is 3-1-0 with a 1.98 goals-against average and .926 SV.
Winnipeg is without injured center Paul Stastny due to a lower-body injury and isn’t even on this trip. Stastny is hoping to be ready for Monday’s game. He has been sidelined since Nov. 6 when he took a shot to his foot in a game vs. the Islanders. Stastny has four goals and four assists in 11 games.
The Jets are 5-0 on NHL odds in their past five vs. teams with a losing record.
Vancouver on 5-Game Slide
The Canucks had last season wrecked by COVID and things aren’t going much better this season at 5-10-2 and on a five-game skid – dropping the past four by multiple goals. It was a 4-2 home defeat vs. Colorado on Wednesday.
Defenseman Tucker Poolman returned Wednesday from a two-game suspension for high-sticking and had a goal (first of the year) and assist. Conor Garland had the other goal, his fourth. Center Jason Dickinson had an assist to end a nine-game pointless streak.
Thatcher Demko allowed three goals on 29 shots and is now 5-7-1 with a 3.31 goals-against average and .898 save percentage. That’s not good. Could it lead to back up Jaroslav Halak getting more time? He’s 0-3-1 but with a 2.88 GAA and .903 SV.
Vancouver has a handful of players on injured reserve, led by center Brandon Sutter, winger Michael Ferland, and defenseman Luke Schenn. Sutter hasn’t played yet due to some longer-term COVID issues. He had 12 points in 43 games last year.
Among the Canucks’ issues: They are last in the NHL on the penalty kill (60.3 percent) and have given up 19 goals on 40 chances over its past 10 games. Vancouver isn’t much better on the power play at 14.5 percent and is averaging just 2.47 goals per game. JT Miller leads the team with 18 points.
Vancouver is 1-5 at BMR’s top-rated books in its past six vs. teams with a winning record.
All the NHL betting trends favor the Jets here, but the Canucks are due a victory and this simply sets up well for them with Winnipeg dragged to OT on Thursday and then having to travel.
NHL pick: Jets (+105) at BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.