The Winnipeg Jets (9-6-0) are in the midst of their first multi-game losing streak of the National Hockey League’s 2025-26 campaign, finding themselves on a 3 game skid as they head into their match with the Vancouver Canucks (8-8-1) on Tuesday night.
The True North franchise sits in a tie for the 11th best record in the NHL, yet in a sign of just how tightly contested the early part of the season has been, the Jets find themselves in a tie with 11 other clubs. On the other side of the ice, the Nucks are only 1 point back of our team, yet are sitting in a tie with 5 other clubs for 22nd place.
The Remembrance Day clash will fittingly feature some snipers of each side, with Winnipeg’s Mark Scheifele & Kyle Connor each netting 9 goals so far, while Vancouver’s Kiefer Sherwood has been on fire early on with 10 markers & teammate Brock Boeser has added 7.
Here is how ESPN has the team & goaltender comparison numbers for tonight’s late night game (9:00 pm Central start):
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The “morning” skate won’t occur until 1 pm Central, so we will have to rely on how PuckPedia is predicting the lines for both teams at this point:
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
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VANCOUVER CANUCKS LINE UP
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The Canucks’ Evander Kane & Tyler Myers will be suiting up against their former squad when the Jets try to get their first road win on this current trek. Vancouver has been playing a bit inconsistent lately, winning every second game over their last 8 outings. Yet even when they win, the matches tend to be tightly fought as the Nucks have needed extra time in 3 out of 4 victories. Sounds like starting goaltender Thatcher Demko might return from injury tonight…so that could be a boost for the hometown franchise.
The Jets have been playing a mistake filled style of hockey in the past two games, which allowed the youth of San Jose & Anaheim to pile up goals versus Winnipeg. And then when you consider the True Northers have been shooting at under 3% over their last 3 games, the reason why our club is on a losing streak becomes obvious.
Hopefully head coach Scott Arniel has figured out a way to get this version of the Winnipeg Jets to buy into his system and start playing hockey the right way. Good tight defensive play all over the ice will result in goal scoring chances for our team if they just do the right things.
Go Winnipeg!!!!!
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POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Winnipeg Jets 5 Vancouver Canucks 3
**3 point night for Josh Morrissey moves him into the 3rd spot in the NHL for defenseman scoring.**
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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all): WPG 5.97 VAN 3.78
Expected Goals (5on5): VAN 3.00 WPG 2.59
**the top 3 forward lines were all close to winning the xG battle…not something we’ve seen too often this year. Think Cole Perfetti & Jonathan Toews could be good match on that 2nd line….wonder how Gustav Nyquist fits in when he returns?? Stick with Vladislav Namestnikov? Someone will be heading for the 4th line, which will be greatly improved once Morgan Barron is healthy.**
**7 defensive pairings with over 3 minutes of ice time because of the injury to Haydn Fleury.**
**Connor Hellebuyck ends up with a positive GSAE rating, but the fact that the Jets allowed more than 3 expected goals shows there is still work to be done.**
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Will save the in-depth review until the morning, but the eye test and a quick glance at the numbers…there seems to be a number of positives that can be taken from the Winnipeg Jets’ performance in British Columbia. Far from perfection, but the club looked a lot more like they did last season…..which is a good sign.
BOJA’S Post-Game Thoughts:
The True North franchise picked up a much needed win last night in Vancouver, ending their losing streak to keep pace with the Central Division’s other top clubs. With the victory, Winnipeg now has 20 pts through 16 games, putting them slightly behind the Dallas Stars (23) while both chase the Colorado Avalanche (27). The Jets are now 10-6-0 in the NHL’s 2025-26 season….which is pretty good, but not nearly as impressive as their 15-1-0 start last year.
Leaning into the positives from last night, the returns of Adam Lowry & Cole Perfetti from injury are starting to show benefits as the Jets’ top 3 forward units are starting to play so much better with their returns. Tender Connor Hellebuyck let one goal that he would certainly want back in the 1st, but after that he made some ten bell stops on some quality Canuck looks.
There is still much work to do to make Winnipeg into a playoff threat, but the news that defenseman Dylan Samberg & forward Gustav Nyquist will likely return to the ice against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday could go some way to helping the Jets reach that level of play. They might need all the help they can get, as the Kraken blanked our team in the first meeting of the season.
That is all I have time for this morning…..so I will sign off with a “G’day” to you all.
