NHL Game of the Week: Winnipeg Jets vs. Florida Panthers

It seems that every week there is at least one powerhouse matchup, and this week we are getting the hottest team in the NHL against the Stanley Cup champions.

The Jets have been on the mission since the start of the season with a incredible 15-2 start putting them four points above the next closest team.

The Panthers are coming off a Stanley Cup winning run and look like they are looking to repeat thus far. Some teams have that championship hangover but the Panthers look fresh as ever.

The Jets are doing everything right, leading the league in goals for per game and power play percentage and being stingy when it comes to keeping the puck out of the net only giving up a league leading 2.24 goals per game.

Their only weakness is their penalty kill giving up a goal 19.5% of the time, but tend to stay out of the penalty box ranking sixth in team committed penalties.

The Jets look unstopp able right now and if they keep this pace, which is very hard to do for 82 games and a playoff run, they look like they're going to be a very hard team to stop.

The Panthers are a very well built team led by Matthew Tkachuk. Tkachuk has started off slow, but they have so much fire power outside of him that it hasn’t hurt them.

Sam Reinhart is continuing his tear from last season, finishing second in the league in goals with 57. After getting a shiny new contract, he leads the team in points with 13 goals and 12 assists for 25 points.

The Panthers are fourth in the NHL standings, but just play good hockey and with a roster from top to bottom like they have, it’s hard to count them out.

Tkachuk and Reinhart are the ones who you think of the most when it comes to the Panthers weapons, but they still have Aleksander Barkov, Carter Verhaeghe and Evan Rodrigues down the roster, not to mention their goalie.

Sergei Bobrovsky has been a weapon since his signing, being one of the main pieces when they won the Stanley Cup. They are getting a solid season from him posting a 8-3-1 record with a 3.14 GAA and an .889 save percentage.

This is a heavy weight matchup that looks to be a high scoring barn burner.

The Jets need to hope they can shut down the Panthers weapons and make them win a low scoring affair. If they can keep the Panthers muted, their offense has a bit of a better matchup and just need to capitalize on their chances.

The Panthers need to hope they can work past the Jets strong defense and find a weakness in perennial Vezina Trophy contender Connor Hellebuyck. If they make it a high scoring race, the Panthers look like they would be in good shape.

This will be a beautiful display of good hockey and definitely one to watch.

This game is set for 7 p.m. Saturday night in Sunrise, Fla.

Tristan Kunec is a fourth-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email tqk5432@psu.edu.