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Preview: Winnipeg Jets @ Boston Bruins

Dec 10, 2024; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Winnipeg Jets forward Vladislav Namestnikov (7) is congratulated by Winnipeg Jets forward Alex Iafallo (9) on his goal against the Boston Bruins during the first period at Canada Life Centre. Mandatory Credit: Terrence Lee-Imagn Images

The Winnipeg Jets will enter Thursday’s game on a 4 game winning streak after a late start in Montreal wasn’t enough to cost them a win against the Canadiens. That hot run is tied for the Jets’ 3rd longest winning streak of the season, only beaten by 8 and 7 game runs during their historic 15-1-0 start to the 2025-26 campaign.

Tonight’s opponent will be another Original Six franchise, as the Boston Bruins are waiting for Winnipeg at the TD Garden to start a 3 game homestand. The Bruins have been streaky this year…starting off with 7 losses in the first 11 contests before they eventually got their game going well enough to pull off an impressive 12-5-1 streak. Another downswing in Boston’s next 6 games resulted in no wins (0-5-1 record), but then they rebounded by going 5-1-1. Most recently, the B’s got blown out by the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. So a bit of a roller coaster campaign to date.

When the two NHL franchises last met, our Jets handed the Bruins their worst beating of the year when they rocketed to a 8-1 win at the Canada Life Centre in Manitoba. Perhaps surprisingly for the storied East Coast franchise, Boston has had their share of blowouts this season (losses of 8-2 vs CAR, 7-2 vs DAL, & 7-2 vs BUF). But all of those happened away from the B’s home arena…so I am not expecting anything like that tonight.

The Winnipeg Jets (35-14-3) will be entering action tonight tied for the top spot in the NHL with the Washington Capitals, while the Boston Bruins (25-21-6) are in a 3-way tie for 15th place. Both squads are looking like potential playoff teams, but the numbers below show the varying levels of success:

  • With equal games played, the Jets have scored a whopping 43 more goals than the Bruins.
  • Boston has allowed 41 more goals against in 2024-25.
  • The Jets powerplay is 18.8% more successful than the Bruins this year…and that difference is more than the B’s entire 13.8% conversation rate.
  • Winnipeg has 24 more PP goals than Boston, who have only managed to score 22 so far.

Keeping with the data theme, lets jump into some more numbers by checking out how the franchises’ season’s stats compare in our Match Up graphic and ESPN’s look at the goalies:

Okay, so the numbers all seem fairly lop-sided in the favour of the Winnipeg Jets….but the Boston Bruins have been formidable at home this year (16-7-3). So maybe don’t bet the house on a Jets’ victory this evening?

While we all expected to be without injured captain Adam Lowry until after the 4 Nations Face-Off, word has come out that Winnipeg will be without the services of 4th liner Morgan Barron this evening. With young prospect Brad Lambert already called up from the Manitoba Moose, the Jets’ coaching staff decided to recall another option in Parker Ford. The 24 yr old spark plug has been playing very well lately on a bad Moose squad, netting 7 goals in his last 9 games, so he may be a great addition to the 4th line. We will have to see which youngster gets the tap from coach Scott Arniel tonight, but it is looking like Ford will be making his NHL debut. Another lineup change will see Haydn Fleury exit the lineup after a bit of a rough outing and Colin Miller will take his place. Somehow Logan Stanley continues to get a pass for his horrendous play.

Boston isn’t entirely healthy either, with forwards Mark Kastelic & Oliver Wahlstrom and defenseman Hampus Lindholm expected to be out of the lineup. Here is how PuckPedia is expecting the players to be lined up when the puck drops at 6 pm Central:

Alright…now you have all the information you need to decide if you want to spend the day nervous about an upcoming Jets’ loss or confident in a Winnipeg victory. If you feel the urge, please share any thoughts/predictions about the upcoming match. Should be exciting to see Parker Ford make his NHL debut and I think Jets’ fans will appreciate his style of play.

Admittedly, I have allowed SaskatoonJet to influence the BOJA Boost selection for today…but only because Vladislav Namestnikov desperately needs it and he did score the last time the two teams met.

Go Winnipeg!!!!!

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