The Winnipeg Jets started off their “Mom’s trip” with a win over the San Jose Sharks, largely thanks their powerplay and the sniping abilities of Kyle Connor (9 shots & 2 goals). In fact the True Northers’ entire top line was very noticeable in the late night clash, combining for 18 shots and 8 points versus the Sharks. The youthful energy of Winnipeg’s opponents caused the team some difficulties and resulted in the game not being decided until the final minutes (1:13 left when Adam Lowry deflected home the ultimate winning goal). In a back-to-back situation, the Jets have to get right back to work tonight in another late start (9 pm Central).
Winnipeg (23-9-1) didn’t have to travel far to get to the Honda Center in Anaheim (11-14-4), so at least they should be well rested to face off against a Ducks’ squad that hasn’t played since Saturday. The Jets have been solid on the road (12-6-0), yet they have gone 0-2-0 in the second half of back-to-back situations (4-1 losses to NSH & CLM). Anaheim has had a record of 5-9-1 this year playing in their home arena and recently ended a 5 game losing streak with an OT win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
While I have seen no official confirmation of either squad’s roster plans for the game, I am assuming that Eric Comrie will be in net and there is a slight possibility that Nikolaj Ehlers makes his return this evening. Here is how PuckPedia is currently projecting the two franchises to lineup their players:
The Winnipeg Jets have been picking up wins more consistently lately (5 of last 7) and that is largely thanks to an uptick in goal scoring. Kyle Connor is almost scoring at a 100 pt pace after last night’s performance, putting up 40 pts in 33 games this year. Mark Scheifele is not far behind with 37 pts and Josh Morrissey is leading the defenseman offensively with 30 pts. Many other Jets are getting their names on the scoresheet consistently, with a total of 12 skaters with at least 11 pts. Probably not surprising considering that Winnipeg leads the NHL with 121 goals scored in 2024-25.
The Anaheim Ducks on the other hand have had a hard time putting pucks by opposing goalies, with their 71 goals the lowest total in the entire league. The Californians have received excellent goaltending from Lukas Dostal and John Gibson (see ESPN comparison below for the numbers) helping them to be tied for 12th in least amount of goals against (90). The Ducks are missing Trevor Zegras, who recently underwent a surgical procedure, but otherwise have their full roster to deploy against the Jets. While Anaheim does have 11 players with at least 10 points, only Troy Terry has reached the 20’s (24).
Okay, time to move onto the stats and check out Winnipeg & Anaheim’s numbers head-to-head, plus ESPN’s look at the goalies in the graphics below.
From the numbers above, it seems like this is a perfect game to start a backup goaltender…facing a low scoring Ducks’ team that also has trouble killing penalties. Sounds perfect for the NHL’s highest scoring squad that also happens to have the league’s best powerplay, right?
I just saw confirmation that Anaheim will be playing Lukas Dostal tonight against the Jets, so Winnipeg’s players will have their work cut out for them as the 24 yr old Czech has been playing fantastically this season.
Alright…you have all (okay, most of) the information you need to correctly predict how tonight’s game between the Anaheim Ducks & Winnipeg Jets will play out. Lets hear your thoughts in the comment section.
LATEST NEWS: The Jets have placed Dylan Coghlan on waivers today, making it seem likely that Nikolaj Ehlers will be returning to the lineup. It also signals that rookie Nikita Chibrikov will be sticking with the big club for a while longer.
Go Winnipeg!!!!
