The Winnipeg Jets had strung together about 19 competitive hockey games in a row…even if they only won 6 of those. Yet that streak ended in the True Northers’ last contest when an embarrassing 3rd period saw the Detroit Red Wings rout our team 5 to 1. As a result, the Jets are still well back from a wildcard spot and with the Calgary Flames picking up a point on Sunday, the Manitobans are now sitting with the 3rd worst record in the NHL.
A quick visit to Tankathon tells us that gives Winnipeg a 12.2% shot at 1st overall, 11.9% at 2nd, a 8.9% shot at 3rd, a 40.3% chance at 4th, & 26.7% odds at 5th. Running the mock lottery once again, here is how the top 5 finished:
- Washington Capitals (5.3% odds)
- Nashville Predators (7.2% odds)
- Vancouver Canucks (53.1% odds)
- St. Louis Blues (38.7% odds)
- Winnipeg Jets (26.7% odds)
Not a great lottery result for the Jets even with the 3rd best odds, as the 9th worst Capitals & 7th worst Predators leapt past the NHL’s worst teams to get the opportunity to draft the 2 best prospects.
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Winnipeg at least gets to escape the frigid temperatures of their home province as they head out on a 4 game road trip that kicks off with tonight’s contest versus the New Jersey Devils. Both franchises find themselves in a similar spot with approximately 30 games to play in the regular season, with the Jets needing 8 points to tie the San Jose Sharks, Los Angeles Kings, & Seattle Kraken for the final wildcard spot in the West (6 teams to pass) and the Devils 7 points back of the Montreal Canadiens & Boston Bruins for the final 2 wildcard positions in the East (5 teams to pass). You would think the Jersey Boys would have a greater advantage given the fact that they’ve earned 9 more points on the season than the True Northers. Another similarity between the clubs is that they started the year off well before the wheels started to come off of their seasons. The Jets dropped their opening contest before winning 9 of their next 11 matches, while the Devils also lost the opener before they strung together victories in 8 straight games.
Tuesday’s hockey action at the Prudential Center in Newark will see a couple of squads coming in off of losses. Winnipeg has dropped 2 in a row, the 7th multigame losing skid of the 2025-26 campaign, while New Jersey had a 3 game winning streak through western Canada end when they visited Washington for a match versus the Seattle Kraken.
So we’ve established that both teams desperately need a win this evening (6 pm Central start), here is how the two clubs’ year-to-date stats compare, via ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers:
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Most of the statistical categories are fairly close, though the Jets have scored more goals than the Devils…unless the clubs are on a powerplay, then New Jersey has the advantage offensively. Winnipeg has scored the 10th least goals this season (149), which is still much better than the Devils have managed (4th worst w/ 138). Defensively, the two franchises are in the middle of the league with 158 to 159 goals against (13th & 14th in NHL).
Injuries will impact who the coaches can deploy tonight, as both the Jets & Devils will be missing 3 players. New Jersey will likely be impacted a bit more, as defenseman Luke Hughes represents the most talented of the walking wounded, but they will also be without forwards Stefan Noesen & Zack MacEwen. According to head coach Scott Arniel, Winnipeg will be missing a trio of defensemen, Neal Pionk, Colin Miller, & Haydn Fleury, until after the Olympic break…..which is only 5 games away for the Jets. That is unfortunate as it will likely stop GM Kevin Cheveldayoff from trading Luke Schenn until one of the two right handed defenders are healthy again…..so our club may miss out on the initial flurry of trade activity.
Doing this very early so now news yet but I don’t think the Jets will make any changes, so here are the line up projections for both teams at this point, via PuckPedia:
WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP
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NEW JERSEY DEVILS LINE UP
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The Jets did recall Isaak Phillips from the Manitoba Moose after he helped the AHL team to a series split against the minor league’s top team, the Grand Rapids Griffins. He will serve as the extra defenseman while veteran Gustav Nyquist will likely spend another night in the press box (trade him Chevy to give the Swede a chance to play elsewhere).
Winnipeg will get to square off against former players Brenden Dillon & Jonathan Kovacevic when the ref drops the puck to kick off the match.
Time to make some breakfast before I start my work day. Hope everyone has a good day!!
Go Winnipeg Jets!!!!!
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POST-GAME INFO
Scoring Summary: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Winnipeg Jets 4 New Jersey Devils 3
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Game Stats: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected Goals (all): NJ 2.78 WPG 2.60
Expected Goals (5on5): WPG 2.02 NJ 1.84
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BOJA’S Post-Game Thoughts:
The Winnipeg Jets took advantage of some sloppy play from the New Jersey Devils to build a big enough lead that a few timely saves by Connor Hellebuyck allowed them to open their road trip up with a win. The 2 points they gained was cancelled out by a victory from the Los Angeles Kings and likely the San Jose Sharks too, making the True North franchise remain 8 points away from a tie for the last wildcard spot in the Western Conference.
The win does vault the Jets over the Calgary Flames and into 29th spot in the league with 4 games to play before the Olympic break. Sounds like Elias Salomonsson should get the chance to suit up in all of those with coach Scott Arniel saying he didn’t expect any of the injured defensemen back prior to that. Although I heard that Neal Pionk has been seen skating well already, so it is possible that will change. Next up is the Tampa Bay Lightning, who currently sit in 2nd place in the NHL with 70 pts…..a whole 21 more than Winnipeg has.