Thanks to San Jose coughing up the lead in the Pacific division, it's now for the taking by Anaheim. With the lead in hand, they'll look to win their sixth consecutive game when they travel to Winnipeg. The Ducks have already taken down the Jets once in their winning stretch, 3-1, back on March 24th. Winnipeg simply doesn't have much to play for as they were eliminated from playoff contention earlier this week. Puck drop is set for 8:00 PM Eastern time and the game can be seen on NHL.tv, FSN West, and TSN3 in Canada.
Ducks (42-23-11, 95 points, 1st Pacific)
Anaheim continues to pour it on, going 8-2 in their last 10 games and looking very confident heading into the postseason. They've scored four or more goals in three of their last four games. Heading into Thursday night's action, they're two points ahead of their rivals, the San Jose Sharks, in the division. Opponents are only scoring 1.7 goals on average in their last 10 games.
One factor that could slow down the Ducks' offense is center Ryan Getzlaf (66 pts), who is doubtful for the contest with a lower body injury. He was held out of the previous game, but had four assists against the Rangers in his last time out.
Jets (35-35-7, 77 points, 5th Central)
Winnipeg has been on the winning track with five victories in their last seven games, but all of it simply doesn't matter after being knocked out of the playoff chase two nights ago. They weren't able to trip up the Ducks last time out, or the Kings who were trying to stay alive on the road, but they did win away from home the last time out against New Jersey, 4-3.
Defender Paul Postma (14 pts) is out again with a lower body injury. He hasn't played since March 16th against the NY Islanders. Three other Jets defenders are sidelined for a long period of time, which isn't good for a team that has given up 3.5 goals on average in the last 10 games.
Anaheim is a -135 favorite on the moneyline in this contest. They have won their last two games against Winnipeg. On the flipside, the Jets are just 1-5 in their last six games against teams with a winning record.
