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Minnesota Wild at Winnipeg Jets

Tue Oct 137:15 PM CTESPN+Winnipeg, MB
By JR·2 min read
Wild(3-1-1)
Jets(3-1-1)
Tuesday 10/137:15 PM

TLDR: Minnesota plays 2 games in 3 days before it ever gets to Winnipeg, and the second one ends the night before this one. The Jets will be sitting at home waiting for a Central rival that has just come off the plane.

WED 10/14, 7:15 PMESPN+
Wild
(3-1-1)
WLLWW
Jets
(3-1-1)
LWWWL

Minnesota visits Winnipeg on the second night of a back-to-back, after hosting Vegas Monday, while the Jets have been resting at home since their 5-1 loss to Anaheim. Both teams are without key pieces: the Wild are missing Gustavsson and Faber, and the Jets are missing Morrissey and Hellebuyck. Rest, goaltending and two short-handed blue lines should decide it more than anyone's early-season record.

Minnesota Wild
  • Wallstedt has the net to himself as starter
  • Kaprizov and Hughes give real top-end skill
  • Both recent losses were 1-goal games
  • Second night of a back-to-back, after hosting Vegas
  • Faber out after skull fracture surgery
  • Gustavsson on LTIR, Pickard the only backup
Winnipeg Jets
  • Fully rested, no games before this one
  • Won 3 straight 1-goal games before the Ducks
  • Morrissey out, Fleury and Samberg moved up
  • Hellebuyck on IR, starter's net in flux
  • Gave up 5 to Anaheim at home

This is an early preview, and Minnesota is the club still in motion. The Wild visit Florida on Saturday and host Vegas on Monday before they head north, so their form, their lineup and who starts in goal are all still open. The Jets are settled by comparison. They lost 5-1 to Anaheim at home and have nothing else on the schedule before Tuesday, October 13, which gives them days of rest against a team on the second night of a back-to-back.

In net, both teams are working around injured starters. Filip Gustavsson went on long-term injured reserve Friday, still recovering from hip surgery in May, and isn't expected back until around early November. That makes Jesper Wallstedt the starter, with Calvin Pickard behind him. The second night of a back-to-back is the usual spot for a backup, but Minnesota hasn't named anyone. Winnipeg's goalie situation is also unsettled: Connor Hellebuyck is listed on injured reserve, so the Jets are going without the goalie their whole system has been built around.

The blue lines are the other story. Minnesota is without Brock Faber, who had surgery to repair a skull fracture after taking a puck to the head in preseason and has no timetable to return. That takes away the minutes-eater who usually plays alongside Quinn Hughes. Winnipeg lost Josh Morrissey when he missed a bodycheck and crashed into the glass in Wednesday's 3-2 win over Colorado. He sat out against the Ducks, Dylan Samberg moved up to the top pair and Haydn Fleury made his season debut. That was the night the Jets gave up 5.

Winnipeg's season so far has been a run of 1-goal games. They beat Detroit, Pittsburgh and Colorado by the same 3-2 score, a stretch that looks better in the standings than on the shot clock. Then Anaheim scored 5 on them in their own building. The Jets have plenty of ways to win close games. Whether they can win them without Morrissey and Hellebuyck is the open question.

Minnesota Wild
(3-1-1)
10/10W@Panthers4-1
10/08L@Lightning2-3
10/06L@Sabres2-3
10/04WvsBruins4-1
10/02W@Predators3-1
Winnipeg Jets
(3-1-1)
10/10LvsDucks1-5
10/07WvsAvalanche3-2
10/05W@Penguins3-2
10/04W@Red Wings3-2
10/03LvsBruins3-4

Minnesota opened with wins over Nashville and Boston, then lost 3-2 to Buffalo and 3-2 to Tampa Bay, and had dropped 2 straight as of Saturday. Those games were close, not ugly. With Hughes and Kirill Kaprizov leading the lineup, the Wild have the top-end skill to steal a game anywhere. The Florida and Vegas results will say more about where they are than anything they've done so far. Puck drop at Canada Life Centre is 7:15 PM CT.

Minnesota Wild at Winnipeg Jets — Wild Hit Winnipeg on the Back Half of a Back-to-Back | Polymarket Odds · Barstool Bush