Winnipeg Jets vs. Pittsburgh Penguins Prediction, NHL Odds
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Nik Kowalski
Winnipeg’s coming off a 6-3 victory over Florida that put an end to a two-game skid that doubled Winnipeg’s loss column to three. The Jets are now 16-3 on the year which is nearly double the points the Penguins have generated in 21 games, going 7-10-4.
Friday is game three of a five-game stretch at home for the Penguins. Games one and two both went to overtime, a common theme with the Penguins this season. Pittsburgh’s four regulations wins are tied for last in the NHL and half of their last 10 contests have required extra time. And if that’s the case Friday — it’s bad news for Pittsburgh as Winnipeg is 3-0 in OT.
Puck drop at PPG Paints Arena begins at 7 p.m. EST with the Jets a -160 moneyline favourite on the road and the over-under at six on the NHL odds.
Jets vs. Penguins NHL Betting Odds
Friday’s a matchup of the NHL’s top scoring team in the Jets (4.21 goals per game) and the NHL’s worst team at keeping pucks out of their net in the Penguins (3.86 goals allowed per game). Pittsburgh’s 2.67 goals per game and Winnipeg’s 2.42 goals against per game have both completely balanced out these teams’ over-under splits, but there is a trend when these teams meet up: six straight Jets–Penguins contests played in Pittsburgh have gone under the total.
Winnipeg did have no problems lighting the lamp against Pittsburgh back on October 20 in a 6-3 victory up in Manitoba, but even that was a rarity. The win was only Winnipeg’s sixth in their last 20 outings against Pittsburgh. And of note in that October 20 meeting: the shots were 42-37 in favour of Pittsburgh. Both clubs rank in the top 10 in shots per game this season too.
Winnipeg Jets
Mark Scheifele stepped up to get the Jets back on track before they hit the road. Scheifele’s ninth career hat-trick was the difference in Winnipeg’s 6-3 victory against Florida on Tuesday and passed Patrik Laine for the most hat-tricks in Jets 2.0 history. And after getting blanked in Winnipeg’s two losses down in Florida, the trio of Scheifele and Nikolaj Ehlers and Kyle Connor all registered multi-point nights in Tuesday’s win. The trio are atop Winnipeg’s point-getters this season, with Scheifele and Connor tied with identical 12 goals, 12 assists stat lines.
But as always with Winnipeg, they go as goalie Connor Hellebuyck goes. Hellebuyck is 13-2 with a .923 save percentage on the season and is currently the favourite to win the Vezina Trophy at +190 odds.
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins are 21 games into their season and have blown eight multi-goal leads. The latest came after a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes of play quickly spun to a 3-2 overtime loss Tuesday versus Tampa Bay. Pittsburgh remains in the bottom of the Metropolitan Division with little solutions.
With an assist on Tuesday Sidney Crosby jumped into 13th all-time with 1,017 helpers. Crosby leads the Penguins with 20 points and is now on a four-game point streak. Crosby is also one goal shy of 600 on his career.
After Crosby, Evgeni Malkin’s got 19 points but only has a single assist in his last five appearances. Veteran Swedes Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson have 12 and 11 points respectively and after them, no other Penguin skater has double-digit points on the season. Depth is lacking, goaltending is lacking, and of course wins are lacking for what was once a flagship hockey club.
