Game Day: Winnipeg Jets vs. Nashville Predators
Haydn Fleury opened the scoring Sunday with his first goal as a Jet, and his first since December 2023. Mark Scheifele, celebrating his 33rd birthday, made it 2-0 on a breakaway for his 31st of the season, giving Winnipeg a two-goal lead after the first. Kyle Connor added another breakaway tally in the third off a nice feed from Morgan Barron, which stood as the game-winner, also his 31st of the year. The Jets improved to 28-28-10 and 5-2-0 on the homestand, while Eric Comrie earned his fifth straight win with 29 saves.
Nashville wraps up a five-game road trip tonight, where they’ve gone 1-2-1 so far. They’re coming off a 3-1 loss in Edmonton on Sunday, missing a chance to gain ground in the WC2 race. Fedor Svechkov (3) scored the lone goal, while Justus Annunen made 27 saves as the Predators fell to 29-28-9.
The Jets (66 points) sit just one point back of Nashville (67) in the standings as both teams continue to chase the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Winnipeg remains five points out, with both clubs having 16 games left, including tonight.
“Whether we’re up or down early or midway through a game, it doesn’t really seem like there’s any nervousness or sense to change our game. Obviously, we have to keep that going,” said Josh Morrissey. “We know that as well as we’ve played, we’re still five out heading into today, and today’s a big game with Nashville right there. We’ve got to just keep rolling the way we’ve been going.”
Winnipeg has taken the first two meetings of the season, 4-1 at home on Oct. 18 and 5-2 in Nashville on Nov. 29, so the Predators will be looking for a response in what is a crucial matchup tonight.
The only lineup change sees Connor Hellebuyck get the start.
Connor – Scheifele – Iafallo
Perfetti – Lowry – Vilardi
Nyquist – Toews – Rosen
Koepke – Barron – Lambert
Morrissey – DeMelo
Samberg – Salomonsson
Fleury – Bryson
Hellebuyck
Comrie
Up next:
Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. CT on TSN3.