Too busy today to complete a full Winnipeg Jets’ preview for tonight’s game, so here is an abbreviated version…
WPG Jets @ BOS Bruins
Start Time: 6 pm Central – TD Garden
Winnipeg (28-28-11) is in 27th place in the NHL with 67 points on the season, scoring 191 Goals For (26th) and allowing 206 Goals Against (13th). Mark Scheifele leads the Jets with 31 goals, 52 assists, and 83 points. Kyle Connor is tied for the goal scoring lead as well, while Gabriel Vilardi is 5 back with 26 goals. The True Northers have been below .500 on the road this year (11-15-5) and that could be impactful with 10 of their final 15 contests being outside of Manitoba.
Boston (37-23-8) is in a tie for 10th place in the NHL with 82 points on the season, scoring 224 Goals For (12th) and allowing 214 Goals Against (21st). David Pastrnak leads the Predators with 56 assists & 82 points, while Morgan Geekie has the most goals scored (34). The Bruins are also one of, if not the best, team in the NHL at home this season with a 25-9-1 record.
Here is how the two clubs’ year-to-date stats compare when you look at the head-to-head data, via ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers:
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Based on the morning skates today, here are the line up projections for both clubs via PuckPedia based on the most recent games:
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
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BOSTON BRUINS LINE UP
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MoneyPuck currently have the Winnipeg Jets with a 6.9% chance at making the playoffs and a regulation loss tonight against the Boston Bruins would drop that to just 4%. If the True Northers manage to only pick up 1 point, then the odds would drop slightly to 6.5%….but a non-extra time victory would increase it to 10.3%.
The Jets remain 4 points back of the West’s final wildcard spot, with the Seattle Kraken & Los Angeles Kings tied for 8th (all teams played equal games). The San Jose Sharks do have a game in hand on everyone and could use that to move into 8th with 72 points on the season. And finally, the Nashville Predators are only 2 points back of the Kraken & Kings, as well as being 2 points up on Winnipeg.
Tonight’s slate of NHL games puts all those franchises in action……
SEA @ NSH
BUF @ SJ
PHI @ LA
So by bedtime tonight, our hockey team could be either closer to a playoff berth or fall even farther behind. A tough opponent in the Boston Bruins, who are very tough at home in 2025-26….but who have only gone 5-3-3 since the Olympic break (4-1-0 at home).
Go Winnipeg Jets!!!!!
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POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Boston Bruins 6 Winnipeg Jets 1
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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all): WPG 2.97 BOS 2.54
Expected Goals (5on5): WPG 2.42 BOS 2.24
The Winnipeg Jets didn’t take the lead in the xG battle for good until late in the 2nd period…well after the game was out of reach.
7 different lines with at least 3 minutes of 5 on 5 play. Connor & Scheifele led the way for Winnipeg with 3 even strength goals against.
The defense didn’t escape the line blender either, with 5 pairings getting at least 4:47 of ice time and 11 having at least a minute.
Ouch!!
