Back from the holidays and want to end 2025 with some wins: game day Minnesota Wild vs. Winnipeg Jets

Tonight the Jets return from the NHL break and welcome fans back to the Canada Life Centre. The last game before the holiday break ended in a 4-3 OT loss to the Mammoth, and now the Jets are set to face another tough opponent from the Central Division. One of the hottest teams in the NHL, the Minnesota Wild, travels to Winnipeg where they currently sit at a 7-3-0 mark in their last ten games. The top three teams in the NHL standings now all come from the Central Division: the Colorado Avalanche, the Dallas Stars and the Minnesota Wild.

The still 30th overall 15-17-3 Winnipeg Jets and now 3rd overall 22-10-6 Wild will battle each other this Saturday night, with the NHL league standings still very close after the top 10 teams. We’re almost halfway through the season and the difference between a play-off team and a team in the bottom five in the league remains just 6-8 points.

The Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild have already met twice this regular season, once in Minnesota and once in Winnipeg. The Jets won 4-3 in OT in the first meeting, before the Wild got revenge in Winnipeg on November 23 with a 3-0 win. The four-game series concludes after tonight’s game at Minnesota on January 15. I had no idea this was true when I looked this up, but the Jets are 9-1-0 in their last 10 games against the Wild, with the only loss being the 3-0 game in November. These two teams are Central Division rivals moving in different directions, but both teams are still focused on securing a playoff spot this season.

The injury report for the Winnipeg Jets remains completely blank as they are still at full health. The Wild previously had some injury issues, but now only have one player listed on their injury report. Daemon Hunt was placed on IR last week with an undisclosed injury, but he is not expected to be out until today or a few days from now.

Jets projected lineup

Connor–Scheifele–Nyquist

Perfetti – deputy – Vilardi

Barron–Lowry–Iafallo

Niederreiter-Toews-Pearson

Morrissey-DeMelo

Samberg – Pionk

Stanley Miller

Hellebuyck

Comrie

The unconfirmed starting goalkeeper is Connor Hellebuyck, who has continued to get the nod in goal since returning from injury. After Hellebuyck’s most recent start, he now has a record of 9-8-2 with a GAA of 2.48 and an SV% of .912. The rest of the Jets lineup appears unchanged from the previous match, but the Jets can continue to experiment with their forward lines as they see fit. Colin Miller remains Stanley’s defense partner tonight, while the Jets continue to give Luke Schenn, Colin Miller and Haydn Fleury some playing time at the spot. As usual, some lineup changes may be announced by the Jets prior to the game, so keep an eye on the Jets official X/Twitter account for any late additions or changes to the lineup before the puck drops.

Wildly projected line-up

Kaprisov–Hartman–Zuccarello

Johansson – Eriksson Ek – Boldy

Trenin – Yurov – Tarasenko

Foligno – Sturm – Hinostroza

Hughes Faber

Brodin-Spurgeon

Middleton – Bogosian

Gustavsson

Wallstedt

The Wild lineup is pretty much at full strength minus Hunt, with several young talents and some newer additions to the lineup already making an impact. Looking at the Wild’s player stats through 38 games, Kirill Kaprizov leads the way with 43 points. Filip Gustavsson is the unconfirmed starting goalkeeper. Gustavsson has started a fair number of games for the Wild this season, with young goalkeeper Jasper Wallstedt having a great season as a back-up. Gustavsson has a record of 12-8-4 with a 2.49 GAA, 3 shutouts and a .912 SV%.

Jets player to watch: Dylan Samberg

I’ll continue what I started last game, which was looking at one of each team’s impactful defenders. Dylan Samberg remains Neal Pionk’s two-way defense partner, allowing Pionk to jump into the attack while usually staying behind and cutting off the opponent’s attack. In 19 games since returning from injury, Samberg has 0 goals and 5 assists for just 5 points, which puts him behind the pace needed to surpass last season’s career high of 20 points in 60 games. Keep an eye on Samberg especially in the defensive zone, as he creates turnovers and helps the Jets transition to the opponent’s side of the ice.

Wild player to watch: Quinn Hughes

All eyes in Winnipeg will be on the Wild’s newest superstar: Quinn Hughes. Since Hughes was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks in a blockbuster trade two weeks ago, he appears to be the Wild’s new top defenseman. Last season, Hughes scored a whopping 16 goals, and this season he has 1 goal and 3 assists for 4 points since joining the Wild. Hughes plays a great all-around game and is known for his offensive puck control skills on the top power play unit. Watch him play a key role for the Wild in several situations tonight.

The Winnipeg Puck Drop is scheduled for just after 6pm CST. Tonight’s game will be the third last game of 2025 for the Jets, so they’ll be eager to end their year with some much-needed wins, starting tonight against a tough opponent. Stay tuned here to Jets Nation for a recap of the action as the Jets look to win this Central Division matchup.

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