Oilers v. Jets - Lamentations 4:22

My dearest Winnipeg, your punishment has ended,
your Jets have returned from exile!
But woe by to Edmonton for your punishment is just beginning,
the faults of your ancient heroes are just now starting to be exposed.

Winnipeg Jets @ Edmonton Oilers

Rexall Place, 7:30 p.m. MST
Television: Sportsnet

Visiting Team Scouting Report: The Winnipeg Jets have struggled with their move from the Eastern Conference to the West. In the East, their record would have put them on the cusp of the playoffs, whereas in the West, their record puts them out of the hunt at Christmas. It's interesting, then, that the team's Fenwick percentage with the score close isn't that much better against the Eastern Conference (+332 -341 for 49.3%) than it is against the Western Conference (+696 -732 for 48.7%). Of course, they've build that number against the West up with their games against the Oilers, Flames, and Predators. Against the West's ten best teams, the Jets haven't done nearly as well (+527 -607 for 46.5%).

Expected Lineups:

Edmonton Oilers (11-24-3):

Hall - Nugent-Hopkins - Perron
Smyth - Gordon - Hemsky
Joensuu - Gagner - Eberle
Gazdic - Lander - Yakupov

Ference - J Schultz
N Schultz - Petry
Belov - Potter

Bryzgalov

Winnipeg Jets (16-17-5):

Ladd - Little - Wheeler
Kane - Scheifele - Frolik
Thorburn - Jokinen - Setoguchi
Tangradi - O'Dell - Albert

Byfuglien - Pardy
Bogosian - Enstrom
Stuart - Trouba

Pavelec

By The Numbers:

• There are forty-one forwards in the NHL who have averaged 19:30 minutes of ice time so far this season, but the Oilers are the only team with at least four players on the list (Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, David Perron, and Jordan Eberle). In terms of points per game, the four Oilers are 13th (Hall), 27th (Perron), 28th (Eberle), and 29th (Nugent-Hopkins), so they all seem to be in the range for players receiving this much ice time.
  
• When the Winnipeg Jets selected Mark Scheifele seventh overall in 2011, a lot of people were surprised, me among them. The consensus pick at that spot was Sean Couturier, who was selected by Philadelphia with the next pick. So how are the two players doing? Scheifele has 18 points in 38 games with the Jets playing 15:20 per game while Couturier has 17 points in 36 games with the Flyers playing 19:16 per game. Couturier has a a larger role, especially defensively, but this is his third full season whereas Scheifele is a rookie. Overall, I'd still prefer Couturier, but the difference between the two doesn't look as big today as it did to me on draft day.
  
• With Linus Omark now a member of the Buffalo Sabres, Oklahoma City looks like it's really going to struggle offensively. It's surprising, then, that four forwards on that team were playing for the Oilers ahead of Omark early this year (Ben Eager, Will Acton, Ryan Hamilton, and Tyler Pitlick) and that a fifth played for another NHL team (Roman Horak).