Winnipeg Jets ready for first win of season against Pittsburgh Penguins -NHL Match Preview
There most likely was not any other team in the National Hockey League (NHL) which had such high hopes vested by their fans for the new 2011-2012 regular season than the Winnipeg Jets, who have up until now disappointed at all levels, but hope to change that around going against Pittsburgh Penguins for their first win of the season.
Having lost three straight now against teams like Montreal Canadiens on their opening night followed by Chicago Blackhawks and Phoenix Coyotes most recently, Winnipeg Jets will now be coming back home to face Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday, October 17, at the MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.
If they manage to defeat the Penguins club, their fans might just forget what happened in the past and reassure their newly relocated team after 15 years that their still as passionate and dedicated to supporting them as when their relocation was announced.
As far as Winnipeg head coach, Claude Noel, says, he is not tensed at all with the situation but just hopes they winning soon.
"I'm disappointed and I'm not sure what we're waiting for", Winnipeg coach Noel said. "It looks like our team thinks we have a free pass to fail. (The team's stats) reflects exactly the way we've played. We're better than that, but we haven't proved that to ourselves".
An aspect which might just work in favour of Winnipeg come Monday is the absence of star shooters Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby from the Pittsburgh line-up, who have also lost two straight after having a near perfect start to the season.
Malkin went out after their second straight winning match but it was after his absence that Pittsburgh was unable to remain consistent after that.
Now leading the team, high scoring forward, James Neal, who has up until now put up five goals in the same number of matchups, describes his plans for the upcoming matchup as foolproof.
"We know how they were going to play, pinch down on our wingers, and we had a couple of breakdowns there and they capitalized on the chances", Pens forward, James Neal, said. "It's disappointing because we were so prepared and we knew how the game would be laid out".
Neal is currently tied with Toronto Maple Leafs forward, Phil Kessel, who also at the moment has five goals on his record of the new season for the top spot in the league. Winnipeg’s highest scorer at the moment is Jim Slater, who has two goals to his name in the past three contests.
Both Winnipeg and Penguins are missing key players. Jets will be without Ben Maxwell, Eric Fehr, Aaron Gagnon and Kenndal McArdle with various injuries, while Pittsburgh will play without Malkin, Crosby, Brooks Orpik and Dustin Jeffrey.
Since it is only the start of the new season, Winnipeg players and management are still getting used to their positions and will eventually start winning games, thus not creating such a tense situation.
The matchup is scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m. ET.
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