Winnipeg Jets vs. Vancouver Canucks game day

Tonight, NHL hockey is back from coast to coast. The 2025-26 NHL season was paused from February 6th to the 24th for the Winter Olympics, and now the players who were in Italy are back for the final 25+ games. The trade deadline is now only just over a week away, and the Jets should be an interesting team to watch on deadline day. The Jets lost in Winnipeg against the Canadiens 5-1 on February 4th, and now the Jets begin a three game road trip with the first stop in Vancouver.

Tonight, the Jets battle against a team that is 2-7-1 in their last 10 games and is comfortably in last place in the league standings. The Jets sit 10 points ahead of the Canucks, but they’re still a ways away from being in reach of a playoff spot. The still 28th overall 22-26-8 Winnipeg Jets and 32nd overall 18-33-6 Canucks will clash at Rogers Arena, with these two teams looking for a win on their first game back.

The Jets and Canucks met once earlier this regular season. The season series started over two months ago in Vancouver, where the Jets battled their way to a 5-3 win. These two teams haven’t been very evenly matched in their recent matchups, with the Jets having a 8-2-0 record in the last 10 games against the Canucks. With a win tonight the Jets would clinch the season series (2-0), with one other matchup against the Canucks in Winnipeg on March 7th.

The injury report for the Winnipeg Jets now has five names. Neal Pionk has an undisclosed injury and is currently week-to-week. Nino Niederreiter, who played for Switzerland at the Olympics, was added to the injury report with an undisclosed injury which will also keep him out week-to-week. Josh Morrissey was added to the injury reserve on Monday, as he’s still not well enough to play from the injury he suffered in Canada’s first game in Italy. Haydn Fleury is week-to-week with an upper body injury, and Colin Miller continues to recover from knee surgery. The Canucks have too many players to list on their injury report currently (nine total players), with the return times ranging from day-to-day for several players, while others are out for the rest of the season.

Jets Projected Lineup 

Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi

Perfetti – Lowry – Iafallo

Niederreiter (to be replaced) – Toews – Namestnikov

Koepke – Barron – Nyquist

Stanley – DeMelo

Samberg – Salomonsson

Heinola – Schenn

Comrie

Hellebuyck

The confirmed (as of Tuesday night) starting goalie is Eric Comrie, as Hellebuyck will get a night off after returning from the Olympics in Italy just a few days ago. Comrie now holds a 9-9-1 record with a 3.07 GAA and a .892 SV%. The Jets lineup is set to be mostly unchanged from their last game three weeks ago, with the exception of some replacements for their injured players. Several other players from the Manitoba Moose were recalled recently, including Dominic DiVincentiis, Ville Heinola, Elias Salomonsson, Walker Duehr and Kale Clague. As usual, there could be some announced lineup changes by the Jets prior to the game, so make sure to stay tuned to the Jets official X/Twitter account for any late lineup additions or changes prior to puck drop.

Canucks Projected Lineup

Kane – Pettersson – DeBrusk

O’Connor – Rossi – Boeser

Ohgren – Blueger – Garland

Hoglander – Kampf – Karlsson

E. Pettersson – Hronek

Buium – Myers

M. Pettersson – Willander

Tolopilo

Patera

The Canucks lineup is without a handful of players who are injured, and the lineup now features several recently acquired young players and some veterans who could be on the trade block. Looking at the Canucks’ player stats through 57 games, Elias Pettersson leads the way with just 34 points in 49 games. Nikita Tolopilo is the unconfirmed starting goalie, who will make another start with Thatcher Demko out for the season and Kevin Lankinen out after returning from the Olympics. Tolopilo continues to be a serviceable 3rd (now backup) option alongside Lankinen, and Tolopilo now holds a 3-3-1 record with a 3.04 GAA, 0 shutouts and a .910 SV%.

Jets player to watch: Gabriel Vilardi

Tonight the player to watch from each team will be a forward looking to score early and often as they return from the break for these Canadian teams. Gabriel Vilardi continues to be on a roll this season despite being moved up and down the lineup at times, and he’s third on the Jets in scoring with 50 points in 56 games. Vilardi’s consistency hasn’t been talked about nearly enough this season around the league, and although he didn’t have the best start to the season, he’s now on pace to surpass his career high of 61 points from last season. In 56 games, Vilardi has 21 goals and 29 assists for 50 points. Look for Vilardi to get on the scoresheet tonight against a team allowing the most goals per game (3.65) in the league.

Canucks player to watch: Elias Pettersson

After an outstanding career high 102 points in 2022-23, Elias Pettersson hasn’t been quite the same player in the past two seasons. Everyone on the Canucks is struggling in terms of point production, which translates to them being last place in the league standings. In 49 games this season, Pettersson has 13 goals and 21 assists for 34 points, which may not seem like much, but it’s still enough to lead the Canucks in points. The Jets will need to watch out for Pettersson especially on the powerplay, who enjoys showcasing his playmaking abilities alongside this rebuilding Canucks roster.

Puck drop in Vancouver, British Columbia is set for just after 9:00 pm CST. Tonight’s game will be the first time the Jets are in action since three weeks ago, so you know they’d like to return from the break with a win against this struggling Canadian opponent. Stay tuned here at Jets Nation for a recap of the action, as the Jets look to defeat the 32nd overall Canucks on this Wednesday night at Rogers Arena.

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