To start off….if you noticed the Play button that popped up on this article’s main photo, I inserted a link to YouTube’s recap of last night’s Manitoba Moose win to the article…give it a view and you will see a nice dish from rookie Brayden Yager. Didn’t know that was where it would pop up…but c’est la vie.
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The Winnipeg Jets have had a nightmare road trip to the West Coast, dropping 4 of 5 contests while getting out-scored by the opposition 17 to 10. Yet that is nothing compared to the ugliness radiating out from the Calgary Flames’ franchise the entire 2025-26 campaign…with just 5 wins in the opening 19 games and an NHL worst 40 goals scored, despite having played the most games to date.
The Flames (5-12-2) are entering tonight’s clash at the Scotiabank Saddledome on a 1 game winning streak after shutting out the San Jose Sharks on Thursday, while we all know the Jets (10-7-0) were blowing multiple leads to the Seattle Kraken at the same time.
I’ve seen some True North fans freaking out about Winnipeg being in a tie for 15th place early in the year, but a win tonight would vault them into a tie for 7th place. With the parity in the league at an all time high, it might not be until later in the season that people really know who is a likely playoff team & who isn’t. That may work in the Jets’ benefit, as the defense of their President’s Trophy hasn’t began that well. Now whether that was because of the key players who missed the start of the season or an omen that our hockey club is heading for a downward turn?
Well, those players are back on the ice now….so I think it is about time for the boys from Manitoba to show us what they are truly capable of. The Jets will be looking for a season sweep of the Flames after coming out on top in late October versus Calgary (2-1 and 4-2).
According to MoneyPuck, Winnipeg is 11th in 5 on 5 Actual Goals % (51.56%), while Calgary is 26th (46.03%)…yet that goes against what the Expected Goals % stats are saying, with the Flames with the 5th best numbers (54.59%) and the Jets way down in 30th (44.1%). Which explains why when Connor Hellebuyck doesn’t play up to the fantastic levels he typically does….we end up watching a loss like we did against the Kraken.
To continue our comparison of Winnipeg & Calgary, here is how ESPN has the team & goaltender comparison numbers for tonight’s late night game (yet another 9:00 pm Central start):
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It doesn’t sound like either of Morgan Barron or Cole Koepke will be available for Winnipeg tonight, but they are very close. Haven’t heard when the teams will do their pre-game skates, so for now we will have to rely on PuckPedia’s projections based on yesterday’s practices:
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
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CALGARY FLAMES LINE UP
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Not sure what coach Scott Arniel’s plans will be to get his squad playing the way he wants them…but if everyone on the team is going to make non-stop mistakes, then I see no reason not to play rookies with higher upsides like Nikolaj Chibrikov & Brad Lambert than the supposed “trusted veterans“. Heck, call up Elias Salomonsson while they’re at it….cause his play can’t be worse than what the Jets are currently receiving from the 3rd RD spot.
Go Winnipeg!!!!!
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POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Winnipeg Jets 4 Calgary Flames 3 (OT)
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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all): CGY 4.10 WPG 4.02
Expected Goals (5on5): CGY 2.60 WPG 2.26
**Okay, it was against the NHL’s worst team in the league….but the Jets finally came close to having all forward lines win the Expected Goals battle. Perhaps the most balanced attack from the Jets this season will inspire better play from the True Northers in the future?
**The ice times of the defensemen are a bit odd, with 4 pairings getting at least 4 minutes of playing time. Seems to me that the coaching staff are heavily sheltering Luke Schenn’s ice time, unless I missed an injury to him last night. The Logan Stanley-Schenn duo had just over 7 minutes of 5 on 5 playing time, while Neal Pionk filled in with Big Stan for another 4 minutes.
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BOJA’S Post-Game Thoughts:
After an extremely boring 1st period, the game between Winnipeg & Calgary opened up quite a bit for the remaining periods. As MoneyPuck’s shot chart shows us, both clubs had plenty of prime goal scoring opportunities….yet the two teams still required extra time to determine a winner.
The Jets’ Gabriel Vilardi was able to wrap up the 2 pts for his club on the 6th shootout attempt, which allowed the franchise to return home with a 2-4-0 record on this road trip….I’m guessing the boys will be happy to come home to the Peg after those results. On the negative side of things, the easy part of Winnipeg’s schedule is almost over….so the competition is going to get stiffer over the next 2 months. Here’s hoping that the True Northers can stay healthy for a bit and get the opportunity to gel as a club in order to find the style of play the Jets’ excelled at last year.
Enjoy the Grey Cup festivities everyone…..since we have some Saskatchewan Roughriders amongst our Arctic Ice Hockey members, we should be supportive by cheering on the Green Team today, as tough as that may be for any true Winnipeg Blue Bomber fan.
