Detroit Red Wings vs. Winnipeg Jets: Prediction, Preview, Picks & Odds - 3/31/2023

Time: 8 p.m. ET

Venue: Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg, MB

Where to watch: TSN3, BSDETX

DraftKings: Jets -230, Red Wings +195

BetMGM: Jets -230, Red Wings +195

Caesars: Jets -230, Red Wings +195

Red Wings: 33-32-9

Jets: 41-31-3

The Detroit Red Wings will be playing the Winnipeg Jets on Friday, March 31 in Winnipeg.

The Detroit Red Wings won against the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, March 30 at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan with a score of 3-2. The Detroit Red Wings currently rank 7th in the Atlantic Division.

David Perron had two assists for the Red Wings (33-32-9), two days after scoring a third-period hat trick in a 7-4 win against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

"He's a huge part of this team," Detroit coach Derek Lalonde said. "He only knows one way to play, and that's been important on a team where some guys have struggled for motivation since the trading deadline (on March 3)."

Alex Nedeljkovic made 31 saves against his former team.

"It's nice to get a couple games in a row and get into a good rhythm," he said. "It's always special to play against a former team, and I like playing against those guys."

The Red Wings took a 1-0 lead on the game's first shot when Dominik Kubalik scored his 20th goal of the season at 59 seconds. Kubalik is the second Red Wings player to reach 20 goals this season, joining Dylan Larkin (28).

"If you told us at the beginning of the season that (Kubalik) would give us 20 goals, we would have taken that in a heartbeat," Lalonde said. "He's been a really nice addition."

Brent Burns made it 1-1 at 22 seconds of the second period, beating Nedeljkovic with a point shot through traffic.

Carolina took a 2-1 lead at 4:18 when Jaccob Slavin's long shot deflected off Pius Suter past Nedeljkovic.

Larkin knocked in Alex Chiasson's pass at 7:26 of the second for a power-play goal to make it 2-2.

Jake Walman scored with four seconds left in the third period to give the Detroit Red Wings a 3-2 win. Walman one-timed Andrew Copp's pass from the point through traffic in front for the game-winner.

"That was just a great play by (Copp), really," Walman said. "We were going for broke, because there wasn't much time left. He made a really good pass and we had a screen in front."

The Detroit Red Wings have won four of their last 10 games.

The Winnipeg Jets lost against the San Jose Sharks last Tuesday, March 28 at SAP Center in San Jose, California with a score of 3-0. The Winnipeg Jets currently rank 4th in the Central Division.

The Winnipeg Jets lost ground in the Western Conference wild card race when James Reimer made 41 saves for the San Jose Sharks in a 3-0 win at SAP Center on Tuesday.

"We've got to be a desperate team," Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness said. "It's down to crunch time. We've just got to embrace that fight and embrace it together as a group and keep fighting. Fight with each other and put it all out there. That's all we can do."

Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves for the Jets (41-31-3), who lead the Calgary Flames by two points for the second wild card from the West after the Flames won 2-1 against the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday.

Winnipeg is just three points ahead of the Nashville Predators, who also won Tuesday, 2-1 at the Boston Bruins. Nashville has played two fewer games.

"It's a tough loss, for sure," Jets forward Mark Scheifele said. "We're in the thick of it, we're in the fire, and that's where things are molded."

Noah Gregor gave the Sharks a 1-0 lead at 9:51 of the first period when Jacob Peterson set him up from behind the net three seconds after San Jose's first power play of the game expired.

The Jets outshot the Sharks 16-12 in the first but couldn't solve Reimer, who allowed seven goals in his previous start, a 7-2 loss at the Vancouver Canucks on March 23.

Kevin Labanc made it 2-0 at 2:23 of the third period on a redirection of a shot from Nico Sturm, and Martin Kaut scored on the power play at 17:57 for the 3-0 final.

"The offense gave us a chance to win the game, we just didn't score," Bowness said. "Then, the inconsistencies with some of our players is hurting us. Some of these guys think they're giving us everything in their tank. They're dreaming. We have a lot of guys in there giving us everything they can. We just need a few more guys to jump on board."

The Winnipeg Jets have won five of their last 10 games.

Prediction

The Red Wings are still fighting for hope and needed a buzzer-beater to get it. Against the Jets, and likely riding one of the best goalies in the world, doesn't seem like a successful venture. Jets 4, Red Wings 1

Jets:

Vladislav Namestnikov -- Mark Scheifele -- Blake Wheeler

Kyle Connor -- Pierre-Luc Dubois -- Nino Niederreiter

Nikolaj Ehlers -- Adam Lowry -- Mason Appleton

Morgan Barron -- Kevin Stenlund -- Saku Maenalanen

Josh Morrissey -- Dylan DeMelo

Brenden Dillon -- Neal Pionk

Dylan Samberg -- Nate Schmidt

Connor Hellebuyck

Red Wings:

Pius Suter -- Dylan Larkin -- Lucas Raymond

Jonatan Berggren -- Andrew Copp -- David Perron

Taro Hirose -- Joe Veleno -- Dominik Kubalik

Matt Luff -- Austin Czarnik -- Alex Chiasson

Jake Walman -- Moritz Seider

Olli Maatta -- Jordan Oesterle

Robert Hagg -- Gustav Lindstrom

Alex Nedeljkovic