Red Wings look to end their 12-game losing skid Thursday night

This Thursday there are twelve games on the card in the NHL. The Winnipeg Jets head to Detroit to complete the home and home series with the Red Wings. Last Tuesday they extended the losing streak of the Red Wings to twelve games. Will the Jets get them further into trouble?

Blashill on thin ice

The Detroit Red Wings wouldn't have any illusions prior to the season. The hockey team is going through a rebuild and no one had to expect miracles from them. They're alone in such a big slump now that general manager Steve Yzerman has no choice but to dismiss head coach Jeff Blashill in the near future. Detroit is on a losing skid of twelve games. They are sitting at the bottom of the NHL and it looks like they'll get the first overall draft pick after this season.

The Red Wings miss too much attacking power and the defense is extremely leaky. Detroit has lost 15 of its 22 defeats by three goals or more. Last Tuesday they went to visit the Winnipeg Jets. An early 1-0 deficit was cleared in the second period, but the Jets then simply raced to a comfortable 5-1 victory. The last time the hockey team won a game was exactly a month ago, when they defeated the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in overtime.

Easy first win against Detroit

The Winnipeg Jets reached the Stanley Cup-play-offs for the third time in their franchise history last season. In the second round, they were eliminated over six games by St. Louis Blues, which would later win the Stanley Cup. Winnipeg has enough potential to repeat or even improve their achievement of last season. Connor Hellebucyk is in excellent shape at the moment and the battle in the Central Division is still completely open.

Hellebuyck currently has a save percentage of 0.933 and therefore belongs to the top five goalies of the NHL. During Tuesday's game against the Detroit Red Wings he was rested, although he had to replace backup goalie Laurent Brossoit for a while due to an issue with his equipment. The Jets won this game with relative ease. Besides Brossoit, Andrew Copp and Blake Wheeler also excelled, both of whom were good for a goal and an assist.

Jets will sweep home-and-home series

The Detroit Red Wings were unable to get anything going against the Jets when they visited Winnipeg last Tuesday and lost 5-1. It was the twelfth defeat in a row for the Red Wings. Tonight the teams will meet again in Detroit and the ailing home team will have to find a way past Jets' first goalkeeper Hellebuyck, who has made a big impression in the last few weeks. When the difference in quality seems this big, it can be seen as a trap, but with Hellebuyck in goal I see Winnipeg winning comfortable again.