The Winnipeg Jets have won three contests in a row, matching their second longest hot streak on the 2025-26 campaign, and they will be attempting to extend that on Thursday evening when they visit the Minnesota Wild. After the True Northers dropped their opening regular season game, the club strung together 5 consecutive victories for their longest winning streak of the year. Can they try match or surpass that plateau as they try to work their way back into the playoff conversation?
The clash at the Grand Casino Arena between the two Central Division franchises will represent their 4th and final meeting of the regular season. To date, the home team has lost all the games, as the Jets dropped both contests at the Canada Life Centre (3-0 & 4-3 OT losses), while the Wild lost a 4-3 OT game the last time the clubs met in Minnesota.
Winnipeg (18-22-5) has seemed to found their game after dropping 11 straight matches and are now on a bit of a streak where scoring goals is all of a sudden easy (14 goals in past 5 games). With the 31st record in the NHL, the Jets are a reachable 8 points back of the final wildcard spot…but there are 6 teams to pass before they can even begin to challenge the San Jose Sharks. It is a big hole that the True Northers have dug for themselves and any further setbacks could derail their comeback chances.
Speaking of that, the Jets’ coaching staff recently announced that a trio of defensemen will be out of the lineup on a week-to-week basis. Neal Pionk, Colin Miller, & Haydn Fleury will all likely miss 3 or 4 games, so the team has recalled Manitoba Moose defensemen Isaak Phillips & Elias Salomonsson to fill in. Winnipeg has had its fair share of injuries to deal with this season, but if they sustain any other big ones, it could be the final nail in the coffin for their 25-26 campaign.
Minnesota (26-12-9) is tied for the 3rd best record in the NHL with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but they have only gone 1-2-2 in their past 5 contests. They have been without forward Joel Eriksson Ek and defenseman Jonas Brodin, so possibly that helps explain their recent struggles.
Today’s game at the Canada Life Centre will kick off at 7 pm Central and here is how the two clubs’ year-to-date stats compare, via ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers:
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If you compared the two Central Division teams’ seasons to date, you would find that Minnesota has the 3rd best defense (130 GA) & the 13th best offense (148 GF), while Winnipeg sits in a tie for 22nd most goals (135) and a tie for 15th in goals allowed (142).
The data above reinforces that information, as the Wild have allowed almost a half goal less per game than the Jets have this year. The only other thing I found noteworthy was the Minnesotan’s success on the powerplay to date, with their 22.7% conversion rate putting them in a tie for the 10th most efficient in the NHL.
From what I read on Illegal Curve, it sounds like rookie Isaak Phillips could get the nod to play his first game as a Winnipeg Jet, but Elias Salomonsson was also practicing in Pionk’s place on the 2nd powerplay. So who knows for sure? The one thing that does appear concrete is that injured forward Morgan Barron is not ready to return, even though he did shed the non-contact jersey yesterday. So rookie Danny Zhilkin will get another game, relieving head coach Scott Arniel of having to make a decision on which forward will be sent down to the AHL for the time being.
***late news break has Barron returning tonight versus the Wild, sending Zhilkin to the press box….or possibly all the way to the Manitoba Moose. Will have to double check how many active players the Jets have currently when I have time.***
Here is how PuckPedia’s line up projections are at this point of the day:
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
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MINNESOTA WILD LINE UP
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Seems like PuckPedia is gambling that righty Salomonsson is the one who gets the tap tonight over lefty Phillips. Appears that Connor Hellebuyck will be the starter for the Jets tonight and he will need to pick up his game if Winnipeg has any chance at making an unlikely second half charge. I can’t remember the last time Bucky had a save percentage under .900% with this many games under his belt. Just hasn’t looked entirely right since he returned from his knee surgery….though I haven’t noticed that injury actually playing a role in his recent struggles myself. Far from being a goalie expert, all I have really picked up on is a perceived increase in rebounds…but the save % and Goals Saved Above Expected numbers confirm Hellebuyck isn’t performing as well as he typically does.
Go Winnipeg Jets!!!!!
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POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Winnipeg Jets 6 Minnesota Wild 2
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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all): WPG 3.65 MIN 2.61
Expected Goals (5on5): WPG 1.83 MIN 1.62
The Jets only led the xG battle at even strength by a small margin, but their powerplay allowed them to take a full goal lead in all situations. Winnipeg was rewarded with a pair of PPG’s and a surprising 4 goals at 5 on 5 tonight.
Winnipeg’s middle six got beat up in the xG battle versus Minnesota, but the Scheifele & Barron lines out-chanced the opposition. The Toews & Lowry lines were on the wrong side of the scoresheet, with each unit allowing the Wild to score a goal. It was the opposite for the 1st & 4th units, as they each pocketed one for the Jets.
The Jets top pairing of Morrissey–DeMelo ended up breaking even with 1 goal for & 1 against, but they dominated the xG’s when they were on the ice. The rookie Salomonsson didn’t allow the Wild to score any against him at even strength and he & Samberg limited Minnesota to less than .300 expected goals in 13:18 of playing time.
Hellebuyck played his best game in a while and without that late 3rd period goal by the Wild, the tender would have had a more impressive GSAE rating. But he will certainly be satisfied with a .941 save percentage, that was good enough to earn him 2nd Star of the Game honours.
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BOJA’S Post-Game Thoughts:
Well, the Winnipeg Jets have put their 11 game losing streak to bed and have now embarked on a 4 game run to breath some belief back into the dressing room. Our club has been assisted by opposing goaltenders playing very poorly against them on this hot streak and today was no different. Everyone was sniping their shots, with Josh Morrissey picking a corner to give the Jets a 3-0 lead going into the 1st intermission, then Logan Stanley unleashing a powering slapshot that sent the puck flying to the far side top corner. The True Northers were scoring every way possible versus the Wild, with a couple nice crash the net goals for Jonathan Toews, Gabriel Vilardi, & Tanner Pearson coming off rebounds.
Mark Scheifele was all over the scoresheet in Minnesota, with his 23rd goal of the season and his 33rd, 34th, & 35th assists to give him the overall lead in points for Winnipeg (58).
Winnipeg is off until Saturday when they will host the Toronto Maple Leafs at the Canada Life Centre…will the winning streak continue?
