The Winnipeg Jets (12-10-0) will continue their road trip as they search for a way to end a 3 game losing streak without the assistance of star goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. Friday’s opposition has had an excellent start to the NHL’s 2025-26 campaign, as the Carolina Hurricanes (14-7-2) are tied for the 4th best record in the league…yet they will be entering action today on a 2 game skid of their own.

One random observation before I dig into the Jets-Canes clash, I do find it interesting that in a year when the NHL has seen record amounts of games needing extra playing time to determine a winner, our Winnipeg hockey club has only gone to overtime/shootout twice so far. Even though the True Northers have won both of those, the lack of “loser points” in their losses to date might find more importance as the playoff race gets nearer to the finish line.

The Hurricanes squeezed out a 4-3 win over the Jets about a week ago in Manitoba, now it will be our squad’s chance to return the favour in front of the fans at the Lenovo Center in Raleigh. Both clubs have had scoring issues as of late, with Winnipeg only pocketing 6 goals in their last 3 contests, while Carolina has been limited to 3 red lights lit in their past 2 losses.

The Hurricanes have played very well this season, especially at 5 on 5 where they are ranked 4th in Actual Goal % (55.67) and 2nd in Expected Goal % (56.86). Which means that they are pretty much scoring the number of goals they are expected to get based on the level of their play. The Jets on the other hand, haven’t been as successful at even strength, in a tie for 17th in Actual Goal % (50) and even worse in Expected Goals % as they sit in 27th (46.76).

Let’s continue our look at Winnipeg & Carolina by checking out ESPN‘s team & goaltender comparison numbers for tonight’s late night game (yet another 9:00 pm Central start):

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The Hurricanes have been the better team at creating offense this year (goals/shots) and their tenacious style of play has limited the clubs facing them to around 25 shots per game. If there was a weakness for the North Carolina franchise, it may be in the special teams’ performance, where the PKers are slightly below average and the PP has been underwhelming.

The Jets have received better than expected outcomes from their special teams, however their goal scoring at even strength has seen them only break even. That is mainly because the Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, & Gabriel Vilardi trio are doing most of the heavy lifting.

That reminded me of the Norm MacDonald joke about the short form for the word identification, to paraphrase…..okay, the “I” stands for “I” and the “D” means “Dentification”…..seems like the “D” is doing the heavy lifting on that one. Definitely not the same without Norm’s delivery, but still funny.

Beside Bucky being out for Winnipeg, the team will also be without a pair of defensemen in 2nd pairing Neal Pionk and depth defender Haydn Fleury unavailable. Carolina will for sure be without center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, but may also be missing forward Jordan Staal & tender Pyotr Kochetkov, who are listed day-to-day.

Here is how PuckPedia is currently predicting the lines to look like when play gets underway at 4 pm Central:

WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP

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CAROLINA HURRICANES LINE UP

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Looking like rookie goalie Thomas Milic will be joining fellow rookie Elias Salomonsson in the starting line up today. The Manitoba Moose tender has put in a strong performance to begin the season, putting up a 2.14 Goals Against Average & .921 Save Percentage in 9 starts with the AHL franchise. The undersized & acrobatic masked man will be put to the test facing a strong offensive club like the Hurricanes.

Winnipeg’s practice yesterday was optional, so anything could happen with the forward & defensive units….but it might not be a bad thing for coach Scott Arniel to start letting the bottom 3 units gain some familiarity with each other. The blender can cause confusion just as often as it creates more offense.

That is all I have time for this morning….hope everyone has a good day & see you back here for puck drop (or whenever you get home from work).

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:

Due to the early kick off, I should have all the stats & other information added to this article by 8 pm tonight. Hopefully I will be able to write about a Winnipeg victory. Go Jets!!