Jets vs. Sabres Wednesday NHL injury report, odds, pick: Winnipeg loses key players Kyle Connor, Nate Schmidt to COVID protocols

This writer early this morning at SportsLine took the Buffalo Sabres at +1.5 on the puckline against the Winnipeg Jets for tonight's game because Buffalo is playing well of late and is at home – and it's not that "easy" for a home team to lose by multiple goals in the NHL. Now comes news that the Jets will be without one of the NHL's top scorers in Kyle Connor and one of the team's top defensemen in Nate Schmidt in COVID protocols. That has shifted the moneyline and puckline odds a bit.

Connor is seventh in the NHL with 82 points and fifth with 41 goals. The 25-year-old already has easily surpassed his career high in both. Connor leads the Jets in scoring on the road with 46 points (23G, 23A) in 33 games, which is fourth in the NHL. He hadn't missed a game this season. Nikolaj Ehlers will take Connor's spot on the power-play unit. Schmidt has four goals and 27 assists and fifth on the team in average time on ice at 20:15.

While Buffalo is playing out the string on another losing season, Winnipeg needs every point possible. It has 74 points, three out of the West's second Wild-Card spot currently held by Dallas. The Jets are 10-5-2 in their past 17 games and haven't lost consecutive games in regulation since Feb. 19-21. Winnipeg is 9-4-1 in March and can tie a franchise record for most victories in the month (11-3-1 in 2017-18) if it wins tonight and Thursday (I already faded the Jets in Toronto).

Rules are different for Canadian teams. Because the Jets are scheduled to go back across the border after tonight's game for a matchup in Toronto on Thursday, all Winnipeg players were tested for COVID this morning. Had tonight's game in Buffalo been even 48 hours later, they would not have been tested because as of Friday asymptomatic travelers returning to Canada don't need to test.

Now barring false positives, Connor and Schmidt will miss tonight, Thursday and Saturday vs. Los Angeles as they serve the mandatory five-day quarantine. 

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