Another early game for the Winnipeg Jets (1-1-0) as they hit the road for their first road trip of the 2025-26 NHL campaign, taking on the New York Islanders (0-2-0) when the puck finally drops at 12:00 Central.
The True Northers split their opening homestand against a pair of Western Conference foes, while the Long Islanders clashed with a pair of Metropolitan Division rivals but walked away with a pair of narrow losses (4-3 PIT/4-2 WSH).
Injuries remain the number one theme for Winnipeg at defense this year Haydn Fleury has joined an already crowded recovery room full of Adam Lowry, Cole Perfetti& Dylan Samberg. As a result, the Jets’ coaching staff recalled the defenseman Kale Clague to be the seventh man, while constantly being overlooked Colin Molenaar on his hand. At least that’s how it was during practice on Sunday. We’ll have to see if anything changes before the match starts.
Okay….time for the team comparison stats of ESPN and the expected line-ups of PuckPedia:
MATCH-UP STATISTICS
WINNIPEG JETS ALIGNING
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NY ISLANDERS ARE IN THE LINE
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Well, the Jets defense has been questionable this year… Hopes can’t be high that this will improve once you see a second pairing Logan Stanley & Neal Pionk. The best news about Samberg’s injury is that it is to his upper extremity, so the key defender can at least skate to maintain his stamina and the wrist bone is healing. It can’t happen fast enough.
So what can we expect from Winnipeg on Monday afternoon? I honestly have no idea…with so many missing pieces it’s like Forrest Gump’s box of chocolates at this point…you never know what you’re going to get.
The New York Islanders haven’t gotten the results they want on the scoreboard, but at least the most recent first overall draft pick, Matthew Schaeferhas lived up to his expectations with a goal and an assist in his first two NHL games. It must be fun to see the child in action. I doubt we’ll see former Jet David Rittich in net against Winnipeg, as Ilya Sorokin will most likely get his third straight start.
Go to Winnipeg!!!!!
Manitoba Moose update: The minor league club lost its grudge match against the Laval Rocket on Sunday, but I did witness it being demoted recently David Gustafson scored a pair of goals in his first AHL game of the year. From what I’ve seen early on, the elk should be quite entertaining this year…though despite Colby Barlow, Brayden Yager& Brad Lambert Creating multiple scoring opportunities in their first game as a trio, I still feel that mixing them with the veterans could get more consistent offensive zone time versus the top 9 forwards.
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AFTER-GAME INFO
**the information below will be added a few hours after the game ends, so check back later this evening to check the numbers.**
Score overview: (courtesy of ESPN)
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Statistics: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected goals (all): WPG 3.46 NYI 3.31
Expected goals (5on5): NYI 2.16 WPG 1.35
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The Winnipeg Jets put in a strong performance from the goaltender Erik Comrie to victory on Thanksgiving Monday, aided by some secondary, even strength scores Morgan Barron (beauty backhander), Tanner Pearson (What an attitude from Nino), and even Logan Stanley.
The True Northers have a few days off before taking on the Philadelphia Flyers… who may have the ugliest schedule to start the season with games against Florida, Carolina, Florida and Winnipeg kicking off. There’s nothing like playing the defending President’s Trophy winners, the defending Stanley Cup champions (twice), and a team where many people say: “won the offseason‘ in the Carolina Hurricanes as your club tries to get into the swing of things.
#Winnipeg #Jets #Islanders