Well, the Winnipeg Jets 2026-27 NHL season kicked off on Friday in front of a crowd of 15, 209 (a little over a 100 short of a sell out) when the Boston Bruins came to town. The fans were treated to the sight of many new faces in Jets’ uniforms, with rookie Viggo Bjorck leading the way of a new wave of future fan favourites.
Joining him in the first game as a True Norther, goalie Stuart Skinner and defensemen Mario Ferraro & Tyrel Bauer were able to experience what playing for the Jets in front of a rowdy CLC crowd feels like. Despite all the uncertainty surrounding the upcoming season, the ticket holders did their jobs well by cheering on the home team loudly throughout the contest.
Beyond that, coach Scott Arniel’s newly arranged forward units would be put to their first real test in the form of a Boston squad that finished with 100 pts and qualified for the playoffs.
Kyle Connor – Mark Scheifele – Cole Perfetti
Isak Rosen – Viggo Bjorck – Gabriel Vilardi
Morgan Barron – Adam Lowry – Brad Lambert
Nino Niederreiter – Vladislav Namestnikov – Alex Iafallo
While I missed watching the game right from the puck drop as I was still driving home from my niece’s wedding, the radio announcers certainly made it sound like the Winnipeg Jets started the game off with energy. When watching the replay earlier this morning, I saw how the top line came oh so close to popping one in on the first shift of the game, with both Kyle Connor & Mark Scheifele having a chance to bring the fans to their feet. Then Gabriel Vilardi had a quality look from the slot and then Viggo Bjorck was set up during a PP by Vladislav Namestnikov for a great opportunity from right in front of the net. The home team used that momentum to take an early lead in the shot count, at one point being up 8-2 over the visiting Bruins, yet Boston eventually found their legs and were able to even that up a bit (12-9 WPG) by the period’s end.
Despite both clubs having plenty of talented forwards, it was the defensemen that opened up the scoring. First it was long-term Jet Dylan DeMelo who was able to beat Jeremy Swayman with a long point shot to give Winnipeg a lead 5 minutes into the match (pretty nice slap shot to score just under the crossbar – nice rebound recovery by Morgan Barron to get the puck to him). WPG 1-0. Unfortunately, it was less than 5 minutes later that the B’s were able to even things up when a wobbling & sinking point shot by Hampus Lindholm managed to evade an unscreened Skinner’s glove to knot things up. TIE 1-1. Boston took momentum from tying the match up, despite being heavily out-played to that point, and started to tilt the ice toward Winnipeg’s zone. Skinner made a nice stop off a low slot shot from Pavel Zacha, but shortly after the Jets’ defensive coverage would fall apart as 3 defenders were drawn to the same player, yet still couldn’t stop him from bringing the puck to the net for a shot. Unfortunately for the fans at the CLC, the rebound went to a completely uncovered James Hagen to give him one of the easier goals that he’ll ever score. BOS 2-1. Shortly after, a nice flip by Cole Perfetti pass sprung the speedy Connor for one of the many chances he would have in the game. Final shots of 1st – WPG 12-9.
Winnipeg had another PP opportunity early in the 2nd and when Perfetti received a pass at the side of the net, he quickly spun and drove to the front of the net. His quick shot couldn’t beat Swayman’s pad, but the rebound popped out to Connor in the right face-off circle….and KFC did what KFC does…scores in a Jets’ opener. TIE 2-2. Incredibly that was the 9th straight home opener that the True North sniper has done his thing and it immediately brought the home club back into the contest. The two teams traded chances when Connor yet again used his wheels to get a partial breakaway, then Skinner had to come up big on a deflection from a dangerous location. Stu had to come up big a couple more times to keep the contest deadlocked and just as time was about to run out on the middle frame, Adam Lowry was able to find Mario Ferraro wide open at the top of the left face-off circle and hit him with a pass (the captain might have actually been aiming for Barron in the slot, but his stick was lifted). The defenseman took a step in before unleashing a wrister through the traffic in front, allowing him to beat Swayman up high and give Winnipeg the lead again. WPG 3-2. Final shots in 2nd: WPG 12-8
The early 3rd period saw a chance for the Jets to add an insurance goal when Connor had yet another of his many scoring chances, this time getting denied on a shot from the left face-off dot. The Bruins responded with a great look of their own when JJ Peterka had a partial breakaway, but the defender limited him to shooting at one side of the net and Skinner had no difficulty keeping the puck out. A middle period PP for Winnipeg also gave them the chance to find some breathing room on the scoreboard, but once again Boston’s tender stopped the chances they created. As the minutes ticked by, the True Northers found themselves defending more often than not and eventually that pressure was too much. With a little luck involved and the extra attacker on the ice, David Pastrnak curled up along the right boards before sending a pass to the middle of the ice, where a decently covered Elias Lindholm was able to get a deflection on the puck. Whether Skinner would have stopped that will remain unknown…because it quickly hit Neal Pionk’s skate blade and once again changed directions to allow the puck to slip under the goalie’s pads. TIE 3-3. With just over a minute & a half left, this game was heading for overtime. Final shots in 3rd: BOS 12-8
The extra frame opened up with Boston winning the draw to control the puck, yet a off-target shot from Lindholm allowed Winnipeg to take possession. Without any support, Connor opted to take on two Bruin defenders, dangling back & forth between them before he stepped around the final guy to deke out Swayman. Unfortunately, despite the amazing display of skill, the fates weren’t on the True Norther’s side as the puck loudly rang off the left post. Not long after, the Jets got caught on a puck possession change when 2 of their players were too deep in the B’s zone. This initially looked like it would result in a 1 on 1, with Pastrnak facing off against Lowry. Yet the talented Czech recognized that Peterka was going to beat Vilardi up the ice, while Winnipeg’s forward-playing-defenseman did not. So a quick pass to some open ice allowed Peterka to skate into the puck and go in all alone on Skinner and tuck one in 5 hole. BOS 4-3. Final shots in OT: TIE 1-1
POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Boston Bruins 4 – Winnipeg Jets 3 (OT)
*****
Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all): WPG 3.76 – BOS 3.19
Expected Goals (5on5): BOS 2.36 – WPG 1.70
While the Jets ended up losing the overall xG battle at 5 on 5, Winnipeg’s top six was able to hold their own against Boston. The newly formed 1st line was out-shot slightly, but when it came to pucks that the goalies had to actually save, they had a small edge over the Bruins while also winning the xG battle with a 62.9%. Viggo Bjorck’s rookie debut didn’t result in the young Swede picking up his first NHL point, but his unit was the True North’s best one on Friday night, getting 98.8% of the xG’s while out-shooting the B’s 3 to 1.
Unfortunately, Winnipeg’s bottom six was not able to do as well, with both lines losing the xG battle badly. While watching the match, I thought the Morgan Barron-Adam Lowry–Brad Lambert looked okay to the eye test yet there stats above don’t seem to agree. The 4th lines’ numbers didn’t surprise me in the least, as they seemed to struggle to spend any significant amount of time in the offensive zone.
When it comes to actual goals for & against, it was Josh Morrissey & Gabriel Vilardi who ended the contest with a -2 on the night.
The advanced stats were pretty good for the main 3 pairings, yet when Mario Ferraro & Dylan DeMelo paired up while Tyrel Bauer was serving his fighting major they really struggled (0% xG). The top 2 duos were able to win the xG battles, though Samberg–Pionk (who had to deal with the most elite opposition) were out-shot by the Bruins.
The True North’s new starting goaltender was so close to walking away with some impressive stats in his debut….but the late tying marker by Boston and the eventual OT winner ended up sending him below that mark. Allowing 4 goals against on 30 shots for a .861 sv%, STUUU finished the game with a -0.81 GSAE. I thought for the most part Stuart Skinner played well enough…but that opening Bruins’ goal on an unscreened point shot was probably the one that stopped him from having a better stat line. While the puck did dip a bit because the shot sent the puck end over end towards the goal, it is still something that anyone with an average glove hand should be able to track.
*****
BOJA POST-GAME THOUGHTS:
- Kyle Connor was the clear star in the game for Winnipeg in this one. He was flying around the ice and had by far the most scoring chances in the contest (1.139 xG). What a move in overtime and he really deserved the game winner on that one. Led the team with 9 shots on net, far ahead of the next closest players at 4 (Morrissey/Perfetti).
- One thing I was very happy to see was the play of Dylan Samberg & Neal Pionk, who are both coming off years that weren’t up to their standards. In this one, the duo held Boston’s best lines without a goal during 5 on 5 play while Winnipeg had 54.1% of the xG’s. Those are the type of numbers we want to see from the True North’s shutdown pairing.
- Personally, I think Mark Scheifele might have been the worst player on the Jets’ top line last night, as he didn’t seem to really drive the play as he usually does, but rather seemed content being a passenger. The other forward, Cole Perfetti, was once again an advanced stats favourite, putting up a team high 70% xG rating at 5 on 5. Not that Scheif did poorly in that category, as he was 2nd with a 62.9% xG.
- When together as a unit (9:17 at 5 on 5), the Isak Rosen–Viggo Bjorck–Gabriel Vilardi trio did extremely well, putting up an unheard of 98.8% xG. Yet things weren’t as sunny when they weren’t all together, as Bjorck ended with a 58% xG, Vilardi with a 54.3% xG, and Rosen at 22.7%. The Swedish rookie came so close to scoring his 1st NHL goal early in the game and didn’t look out of place against that level of talent. So that is a great omen for us fans & the team.
- Stuart Skinner was far from perfect in his debut with Winnipeg, but he made some quality saves and likely deserved a little better result. Still that consistency will need to be worked on, as stopping one of Boston’s opening or game winning goals could have led to a different outcome. I still have hope that he will give us slightly better than average goaltending (.900 sv%) this year, but we will certainly need Clay Stevenson or someone to also chip in if the team as a whole can achieve that mark.
- Despite hoping that the Veteran Line of Nino Niederreiter–Vladislav Namestnikov–Alex Iafallo would show some promising signs, that didn’t happen as they were pretty much dominated by the Bruins last night (6.8% xG). While I can recall a couple good plays from Nino & Vlad in the match, I can’t seem to pull up any from Iafallo. Disappointing when there are some speedy options on the bench (Cole Koepke) and in the minors (Noah Gregor, Brayden Yager, & Parker Ford).
- Other notes…..Tyrel Bauer didn’t look as slow & out of place as I expected (47.4% xG), so it will be interesting to see how long of a trial he is given. Should be about 6-8 games before Elias Salomonsson is ready to go, so the tough Albertan has the time to really show that he is ready for the NHL level. That one fight might have ensured that he doesn’t clear waivers though, so Winnipeg’s coaches will have decisions to make and consequences to face. Brad Lambert’s advanced numbers weren’t impressive, but I didn’t mind his game while watching it. Think the speed he has is something that is needed on Adam Lowry’s line, so hopefully with more time & familiarity that data will improve.
Running out of time before the Manitoba Moose game….so I think I will wrap up there. Probably some stuff I overlooked and didn’t mention, so let me hear it in the Comment section. The Winnipeg Jets will head out on their first road trip of the 2026-27 campaign, with a back-to-back situation on Sunday & Monday against the Detroit Red Wings & Pittsburgh Penguins. Got to think the Wings might offer the True Northers their best chance at picking up a first win. See you all back here on Sunday!!
