The Winnipeg Jets (5-2-0) will face their first back-to-back game situation of the 2025-26 NHL campaign, but they should likely have plenty of energy left as the True Northers only managed a high level of effort in one period against the Seattle Kraken last night. Although the final scoreboard showed 3-0 to the opponent, it was actually only one goal that made the difference… and I happened to miss it while having a late dinner in the middle of the game. So it wasn’t that the Jets played terribly… maybe just uninspired.
Tonight the Calgary Flames (1-6-1) will be visiting the Canada Life Center and I bet they won’t be in a good mood after not winning any of their last six games. Scoring goals is a major problem for our neighbors to the west, as the club has only managed to score one and a half goals per game so far.
Due to the quick turnaround between games, Winnipeg does not have a mandatory pre-game skate, so I have no way of determining who will play tonight. Remarkably, Lucas Schenn played 6 minutes less than the nearest defenseman against Seattle, which could indicate he’s taking a hit or has lost the head coach’s trust Scott Arniel. Does this mean the eternally overlooked Colin Molenaar will get a shot tonight? Besides the fact that the 3rd d couple had a hard time last night (11.9 xG%), the 3rd forward unit of Alex Iafallo, Vladislav Namestnikov& Brad Lambert also performed poorly (10.5 xG%). So maybe the coaching staff will make a change there too.
We’ll probably have to wait until the puck drops to find out for sure. In the meantime, it’s time to see how ESPN shows the stats for the two clubs and then looks at the expected lineups PuckPedia….
MATCH-UP STATISTICS
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WINNIPEG JETS ALIGNING
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CALGARY FLAMES SET
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Well, I had to rely on the comedic genius of Bill Burr to make me laugh after watching last night’s Jets game…I hope I don’t have to pull out clips of comedy icons like George Carlin, Mitch Hedberg& Steven Wright to make myself happy after Winnipeg takes a loss to a Flames team after a big losing skid.
The Jets were able to win the 5-on-5 expected goals battle for the first time this season against the Kraken, so they may be able to build on that tonight. Moved from 32nd to 30th in the league in xG%!!
I wish I had suggestions on how to make Winnipeg’s forward units better with the currently available players… but I got nothing. Press the pulse button on the blender and see what happens? I doubt Arniel will do anything that drastic, but I won’t be surprised if I see more shuffling of the bottom three lines.
Go to Winnipeg!!!!!
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AFTER-GAME INFO
**the information below will be added later Friday evening, so come back tomorrow to see the numbers.**
Score overview: (courtesy of ESPN)
FINAL SCORE: Winnipeg Jets 5 – Calgary Flames 3
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Game Statistics: (courtesy of MoneyPuck)
Expected goals (all): WPG 5.29 C.G.Y 3.96
Expected goals (5on5): C.G.Y 3.12 WPG 2.14
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Check back tomorrow for BOJA’s post-match thoughts. Enjoy your weekend.
#Calgary #Flames #Winnipeg #Jets