The Leafs and Jets are squaring off for the second game of this series in Winnipeg, and the Leafs are not only looking for another win to pull them even further ahead of the pack, they’re also looking to put up another dominant performance against the Jets.

Based on the Leafs xGF% in each game this season, three of their six best performances have come against the Jets this season, with Wednesday’s game being their second best of the season after Jason Spezza’s hat trick game against the Canucks. I think it’s time we stopped fooling ourselves about this being an even matchup. Both teams have the talent, but at even strength, the Jets forwards just can’t bring their game like the Leafs, and the defense isn’t even close to being an even matchup. The only player that’s shown up for the Jets is Connor Hellebuyck, but that can only win you so many games.

That’s not to say the Leafs have dominated every game. Their second worst game of the season came against the Jets in that 5-2 loss a few weeks ago, and it’s one of just three games where the Leafs fell below 40% in xGF% in a game. But, the other four games have seen the Leafs get at least 60%, so to say it’s close isn’t giving the Leafs enough credit.

It’ll be a bit later than normal with an 8pm start time, but it’s a holiday and tomorrow’s Saturday, so it shouldn’t be as much of an issue as the 10pm weekday games. You can catch the game on TSN, where hopefully we’ll listen to more stories from Gord about why Barstool sucks.