Okay…..a day has arrived that I have been dreading ever since I realized the Winnipeg Jets wouldn’t be nearly as good as last year. Yes, the dynamo that is this season’s version of the Colorado Avalanche is available tonight for the True North franchise. Despite the NHL’s 2025-2026 regular season schedule nearing its midpoint, the Central Division rivals have yet to face off. So our Jets fans can look forward to playing four more times in the last 49 games against what appears to be the best team in the league. Yes!!
The Avalanche (24-2-7) have been huge performers through the first part of the season and currently sit atop the NHL with 55 points, with the most goals scored (133), and the best defense (77 goals conceded). Only two regular-season games lost and a 13-0-2 record in the friendly confines of Denver’s Ball Arena. Despite that dominance, they only lead the Dallas Stars by four in the race for the Central title. So it is not likely that they will overlook Winnipeg tonight and give our club a surprise victory. The Avs were led by the usual suspects, with Nathan Mackinnon going crazy with 58 points, Martin Necas bags 45, and Kale Makar the top 3 is rounded off with 40 points.
The fighter jets (15-16-2), on the other hand, are still searching for their identity with the current selection. The start of the season was derailed by injuries to key players, but now that the club is back to full health, the level of play has not risen as expected. Some Winnipeg players are performing admirably, but unfortunately, there are only a handful. Gabriel Vilardi has put pucks in the net and is on pace for his first 40-goal season. Usual linemates Mark Scheifele & Kyle Connor also want to reach career highs at their current 100-point pace. Even Connor Hellebuyck Missing 3 weeks due to injury, he is once again performing at a Vezina-worthy level and has the 6th best save percentage. But beyond that is the only thing that comes to mind Logan Stanleys unexpected talent to score goals… although that doesn’t exactly mean the big defender is having a great season.
Let’s take a look at a few more by checking out the Winnipeg and Colorado seasons via ESPN‘S comparison numbers of team and goalkeeper:
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Aside from a surprisingly poor power play, Colorado has the advantage in most categories. An average of 4 goals per game is pretty insane and their average of 35 shots per game predicts that Winnipeg’s tender will be busy on Friday night (8:00 PM Central). It’s also a real bonus to have two goalies with a .920 save percentage, spreading the workload throughout the regular season.
The True Northers don’t have a pre-game skate until around 1 p.m., so we’ll have to rely on how PuckPedia Line-ups have been predicted for tonight’s clash for a while now:
WINNIPEG JETS ALIGNING
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COLORADO AVALANCHE SETUP
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Sorry to be so pessimistic in this report… but looking at the Avalanche’s forward depth, I’m not very hopeful about tonight’s game. Those top 9 should all consistently test the Jets defense… so I hope Bucky can deliver another top performance.
Winnipeg couldn’t score a goal against the NHL’s worst defensive team on Wednesday…will they be able to find the back of the net against the league’s best franchise? Head coach Scott Arniel has tried just about every combination beforehand… except splitting up Scheifele and Connor. Is it time to do that? I don’t have any real answers… and it doesn’t seem like the coaching staff or the players do either.
Will this be like the Washington Capitals game, where the Jets reminded us of how they played good teams last season? Or will things go the way most of us expect? Sound off with your thoughts/fears in the comments section.
Go Winnipeg Jets!!!!!
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AFTER-GAME INFO
Score overview: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Colorado avalanche 3 Winnipeg Jets 2
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Game Statistics: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected goals (all): COL 3.36 WPG 2.07
Expected goals (5on5): COL 2.27 WPG 1.03
Winnipeg used a ton of different line combinations against Colorado, with only the top 2 on the list above getting more than 9 minutes combined. The Perfect–Substitutes–Niederreiter unit finished with 0 expected goals and 2 goals against in 3:42. After taking a penalty late in the 2nd, Fetts never saw the ice again, while his friend Vladdy was given a free pass for creating 0.00 xGs in 12:13 of play. It must be fun being a veteran with the Jets. The game winner for the Avalanche came against the Scheifele line.
None of the defensive combinations had great numbers against the Avs, although the duo of Stanley & Fleury conceded a few goals. The final goal that beat Bucky was against the top pair, who came closest to winning the xG battle.
I waited to see if MoneyPuck would adjust their numbers because I wasn’t thinking Hellebuyck deserved to be almost an average NHL goalie in Friday’s game. Yet there was no reprieve for the goaltender to save him from a negative GSAE rating.
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BOJA’S thoughts after the game:
The Winnipeg Jets ended up playing a nicer game than I expected… but the result was still the same. Another loss added to the standings, some more confidence lost among the players, some more confusion among the coaching staff on how to end the skid. The True Northers are on another three-game losing streak… which happens to be their third long streak this season… and they’ll look to avoid their longest skid when they take on the Utah Mammoth on Sunday.
#Winnipeg #Jets #Colorado #Avalanche