The Winnipeg Jets got their star goaltender back for their last game….and then Connor Hellebuyck & company went on to play their best game of this year’s NHL campaign. The True Northers completely controlled the flow of the game against the Washington Capitals as they breezed to an easy victory, totally confusing a fanbase that hasn’t witnessed a game like that since last season.
After knocking off a franchise from America’s capital city, the Jets (15-15-1) will face off against the club from Canada’s capital when the Ottawa Senators (14-13-4) come to Manitoba. Neither of these teams have been playing great hockey lately, with Winnipeg 3-6-1 in their past 10 matches and the Sens slightly worse at 3-7-0. So it is hardly surprising that they find themselves near the bottom of the league, with the Jets being tied for the 5th worst record and the Senators knotted up at 7th. Despite those rankings, neither club is that far out of a wildcard spot at this point, needing to gain only 2 or 3 wins on the current holders.
With the return of Bucky from injury, the True Northers are completely healthy for the first time in the 2025-26 campaign. Ottawa can’t say the same thing though, as they will be without a pair of key players in forward Shane Pinto & defenseman Thomas Chabot.
Lets look more at today’s game (6:30 pm Central start) by checking into Winnipeg & Ottawa’s seasons via ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers:
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The overall team data indicates that Winnipeg & Ottawa are fairly equally matched, though the Jets have been slightly better defensively. That mainly is due to the play of Hellebuyck, as the Jets have an advantage between the pipes. Both clubs have an advantage in the special teams department, with the Senators more deadly on the powerplay and the Jets being more efficient when down a man.
Moving on to check out PuckPedia‘s predicted line ups for tonight’s clash, which are based on the club’s last games because I am writing this very early:
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
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OTTAWA SENATORS LINE UP
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Will the Jets start Hellebuyck again, even though he has just made a quick return from knee surgery? Or will they ease him back in and go with Eric Comrie in net? Would like to see Luke Schenn visit the press box for a game and give Colin Miller another start….but don’t know if coach Scott Arniel will touch anything after the team’s performance versus Washington.
He probably should when you consider the information provided by The Five Hohl after the Capitals’ game, which indicated that the Logan Stanley & Schenn pairing allowed 65% of the expected goals Winnipeg allowed at 5 on 5.
What are you expecting to witness tonight? Will we see the True Northers put up back to back solid performances or will it be a return of the uninspired, mistake filled play that we’ve seen too often this season?
Go Winnipeg!!!!!
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POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE:
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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all):
Expected Goals (5on5):
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BOJA’S Post-Game Thoughts:
The post-game info will be added approximately an hour after tonight’s Jets-Sens’ contest concludes. Hopefully the stats will be as pleasant to look at as the Caps’ games were.