JETBLAST: PITTSBURGH @ WINNIPEG

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Sidney Crosby will finally make his first appearance at the MTS Center tonight when the high powered Pittsburgh Penguins come into to town to face the Winnipeg Jets. Last season the Penguins won 3 of 4 against the Jets, torching Winnipeg for 20 goals in those 3 games. Winnipegs lone win came in their first matchup of the season when Kyle Wellwood scored 8 seconds in on the way to Winnipegs first victory in their current incarnation.

Penguins

Pittsburgh has kept last seasons team very much intact. The one big name that exited steel town over the summer was Jordan Staal (get used to seeing him now that he’s in Carolina Jets fans) but he was replaced with gritty forward Brandon Sutter. Another familiar face to the home crowd will be Tanner Glass who left forPittsburghin the summer with the hopes of a Stanley Cup run. Pittsburgh started the season with huge wins over their division rival Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers before dropping a 6-3 game to the Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday Night.

Jets

Winnipegplayed two strong road games this week and was rewarded with 3 of a possible 4 points.Winnipegshowed their best thus far inWashingtonTuesday thoroughly dominating the Caps for the better part of 60 minutes. Encouraging was the chemistry that seemed to be found between Blake Wheeler and Evander Kane who each got onto the score sheet for the first time this season. Winnipegs powerplay also finally made an appearance scoring twice which is a good sign for a young team searching for offence.

Keys to the Game

The Dynamic Duo: Malkin and Crosby, enough said? Two of the best players in the world can win a game by themselves on some nights so if the Jets can limit them offensively they will go a long way to competing in this hockey game.

Discipline: Besides the two I just mentioned Pittsburghalso boasts 40 goal scorer James Neal, and offensive defence man Kris Letang and when all these players get on the ice at the same time they are near unstoppable. Winnipeg has to stay out of the penalty box if they want a chance because if they give the Pens too many chances with the extra man they will find themselves in a hole

Goaltending: Marc Andre Fleury is one of the top in the world at his position so Winnipeg needs to get to him and create some chaos in front of the net to create scoring chances. On the other side Pavelec has bounced back with two very strong games since the opener against Ottawa and will need to continue to be solid forWinnipeg

Starting Goalies

Ondrej Pavelec (1-1-1) GAA: 3.00 SV% .882                                                                                                                                                     Marc Andre Fleury (0-1-0) GAA: 2.27 SV%: .929

Injuries

Bogosian WPG, (Wrist) out                                                                                                                                                                         Miettenen WPG, (Upper body) out

Last 10 (W-L-OTL)

Jets: 1-1-1                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Penguins: 2-1-0

Prediction

Pens overpower Jets                                                                                                                                                                                     Penguins 5 Jets 1

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