The Winnipeg Jets finally managed to win a game on Friday night when they downed the Los Angeles King by a score of 5 to 1. With their first victory of the 2026 calendar year under their belts, the True Northers will attempt to go on a winning streak when the New Jersey Devils visit Manitoba for a Sunday matinee.
Both NHL franchises have been struggling as of late, with the hometown Jets on a 1-5-3 streak in their past 9 contests, while the Devils matched the 5 points earned with a 2-6-1 record. Most recently, New Jersey is on a 3 game skid that has seen the club allow 16 goals while only scoring 3 of their own. Therefore the teams should be fairly hungry when the puck drops this afternoon as they try to work their ways back into playoff contention.
New Jersey (22-20-2) are currently 6 points out of the East’s last wildcard spot, though they have to overtake 4 other clubs before they could catch the Washington Capitals. Defense and goaltending have been the team’s biggest issues this season, as they have the worst Goal Differential in the Eastern Conference (-22). Though several reporters have indicated that the Devils’ failed pursuit of defenseman Quinn Hughes coincided with their recent swoon.
Winnipeg (16-22-5) are tied for the last place in the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks, which has them 11 points back of a wildcard position and needing to pass 6 teams before they could challenge the Los Angeles Kings or Seattle Kraken for a playoff spot. As bad as the Jets have been this year, their Goal Differential of -9 is much better than the teams closest to them in the standings (Blues -47 & Canucks -37).
Today’s game at the Canada Life Centre will kick off at 1 pm Central this afternoon and here is how the two clubs’ year-to-date stats compare, via ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers:
*****
Besides a slight advantage in goal scoring for Winnipeg, the rest of the data suggest that the teams have been playing a similar level of hockey in 2025-26. New Jersey does tend to take a few more shots each game, but that hasn’t actually resulted in scoring goals since the Jets net almost a half a goal more per contest.
Both franchises are dealing with injuries at this point of the season, as the Devils will for sure be without a trio of forwards, Zack MacEwen, Stefan Noesen, & Evgenii Dadonov. The Jets have three players banged up as well, with defenseman Haydn Fleury & forward Morgan Barron (wearing non-contact jersey yesterday) being unavailable to head coach Scott Arniel and defenseman Neal Pionk being a game time decision.
Once again there will be no pre-game skate today, so we will have to rely on PuckPedia’s line up projections for the time being.
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
*****
NEW JERSEY DEVILS LINE UP
*****
A couple of New Jersey defensemen will be returning to familiar confines today, as veterans Brenden Dillon & Jonathan Kovacevic will be coming back to Manitoba where they both plied their trade for multiple seasons. With Kovacevic’s return from injury, the Devils have opted to scratch Dougie Hamilton and according to reports the club is looking to move the $9M per year defender elsewhere to allow young Simon Nemec to be a regular starter.
A quick scan of Winnipeg’s line up didn’t find any former Devils currently playing for our team, but I could have overlooked something, so that statement might not be true. The Jets have 13 games left before the Olympic break in February….so if the team is going to make a push for the playoffs, then they likely have to start winning a lot more frequently. The True Northers last won two games in a row in mid-November, when they downed the Calgary Flames & Columbus Blue Jackets…….can they finally break that streak this afternoon?
Go Winnipeg Jets!!!!!
*****
POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Winnipeg Jets 4 New Jersey 3
*****
Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all): WPG 4.61 NJ 3.60
Expected Goals (5on5): WPG 3.23 NJ 3.15
Winnipeg’s top 3 forward lines all played between 11:30 and 13:30 of icetime together, with only the Toews’ trio winning the xG battle. They also excelled in the actual goals category too, netting a pair of Jets’ goals while allowing none against. The Scheifele line finished with a -1 after allowing one of New Jersey’s goals, but the center ended up being on for all 3 goals against today. The Zhilkin line also had a 5 on 5 goal for the True Northers, while their final marker came on a shift change (Perfetti–Iafallo–Niederreiter).
Hat tip to Cole Perfetti, who was the most noticeable Winnipeg player on Sunday afternoon. He has been picking up points lately and maybe a strong finish can get his point totals closer to the expected 2nd liner range. Having a couple of big bodied linemates in Jonathan Toews & Gabriel Vilardi has given the smaller Fetts more chance to display his offensive skills.
Because of the early injury to Miller, the defensive pairings were messed up, with the top 2 duos getting between 15 & 16 minutes and the other five had in the 3:00 to 4:30 range. The Morrissey–DeMelo pairing broke even in the game with 1 GF & 1 GA, while the Samberg–Pionk line was only on for a Winnipeg goal. The final 2 Jets’ goals came with Morrissey & Stanley pairing playing together. New Jersey’s final two markers came when they caught the Jets in the middle of switching up their top 4, with Samberg–DeMelo and Morrissey–Pionk getting caught on the ice.
Is it just me or is Hellebuyck giving up bigger rebounds than normal? The tender did end this one as a slightly better than average goalie statistically.
*****
I will get this article updated with the post-game information sometime today, though because the Manitoba Moose are also playing this afternoon…..it might be a couple hours after the final horn before I get around to gathering all the stats.
Some Winnipeg Jets’ prospects had good performances yesterday, as a pair of newly traded forwards made impacts for their new clubs. Big forward Kieron Walton scored the opening goal is his first game with the Peterborough Petes and also scored in the shootout to aid his OHL club to victory, while grinder Kevin He also opened the scoring for the Flint Firebirds when he netted a short-handed marker as his club breezed to an easy win. In the AHL, it was defender Ville Heinola who played the biggest role in the Manitoba Moose’s victory, as the Finn set up his team’s opening goal before winning the contest in the shootout (only skater out of 8 combined attempts to score for the Moose or IceDogs).
Enjoy the pleasant weather in the city, as the temperatures are supposed to be near 0 degrees Celsius for the next few days.
BOJA’S Post-Game Thoughts:
The Winnipeg Jets didn’t play a very good game, but the New Jersey Devils were up to the challenge of making as many mistakes as our team did. The result is a 2 game winning streak for the True Northers, vaulting them into the 2nd last place in the NHL standings.
They will have a tough challenge if they want to extend this hot streak, as the visiting New York Islanders have been performing at a high level this season since they drafted Matthew Schaefer with the 1st overall selection of the 2024 Entry Draft. Tuesday’s game will also mark the end of Winnipeg’s 5 game homestand.
