WINNIPEG, Manitoba – The first regular season home game is done and over and the Jets are now hitting the road for two games, one in Chicago and one in Phoenix.
The Jets’ game at the United Center will mark the one and only time that Winnipeg-born super star Jonathan Taves will play his home town team this season.
The Jets are up for an extremely tough game against a stacked Blackhawks team that is more or less built form the back up. Chicago’s Corey Crawford posted a .926 save percentage last year and will be looking to backstop the Hawks to victory.
The Jets will start Ondrej Pavelec for the game in Chicago and he has a career save percentage of .914 which sets up a great goalie dual in Chicago Thursday night.
But the goalies are not the only show in town as both rosters are full of goal scorers. One skater to worry about for the Jets will be Daniel Carcillo, who will be making his regular season debut after serving a two-game suspension.
Winnipeg will also being heading to the desert to take on the Phoenix Coyotes for the first time.
This is an historic meeting between the two teams as Shane Doan, current Coyotes captain, was drafted by the first iteration of the Winnipeg Jets and has been a member of that franchise since the move to the Phoenix area.
Pavelec will get the start in both games as Winnipeg’s second string goaltender, Chris Mason, will be staying in Winnipeg. Mason’s wife is expecting a child soon. University of Manitoba Bison goaltender, Joe Caligiuri, will make the trip with the team.
