Mid-Season: Game Day Edmonton Oilers vs. Winnipeg Jets

Tonight, the Jets get another chance to get their first win of 2026. The Jets suffered their 10th straight loss in a last-minute 4-3 overtime thriller against the Golden Knights on Tuesday. It was another game where the Jets had the lead but lost it in the final minutes before losing late in the final minute of overtime. One of the Pacific Divisions’ best teams, the Edmonton Oilers, travels to Winnipeg where they currently sit at a solid 6-4-0 mark in their last ten games. Meanwhile, the Jets are now an abysmal 0-6-4 in their last 10 games.

The still 32nd overall 15-21-5 Winnipeg Jets and now 14th overall 21-16-6 Oilers will clash this Thursday night on TSN3, with these two teams still moving in different directions. We’re now officially halfway through the 2025-2026 NHL season and there still isn’t much difference between the teams in the NHL league standings. 12th overall in the league has 48 points, while 30th in the league is not far behind with 40 points.

The Winnipeg Jets and Edmonton Oilers have now met twice this regular season. The first game was on December 6 in Edmonton, where the Jets lost 6-2. On December 29, the Jets hosted the Oilers but lost 3–1, their sixth straight loss at that time. The season series concludes tonight, January 8, in Winnipeg. The Oilers are 6-2-2 in their last 10 games against the Jets, with most games being high scoring.

The injury report for the Winnipeg Jets now has one name: Haydn Fleury. During the game against the Golden Knights, Fleury was hit near the Jets goal and crashed awkwardly into the boards. Fleury currently has no timeline and he will have to recover from several injuries resulting from this incident, including a broken nose. The Oilers still have a number of injuries, and now only have three players on their injury report. Jake Walman and Tristan Jarry have lower-body injuries that will keep them out of the lineup for about another week. Adam Henrique was added to the injury report yesterday with an undisclosed injury, and is not expected to return until late February, after the Olympic break.

Jets projected lineup

Connor – Scheifele – Iafallo

Perfetti–Toews–Vilardi

Barron–Lowry–Niederreiter

Pearson – alternate – Nyquist

Morrissey-DeMelo

Samberg – Pionk

Stanley Schenn

Hellebuyck

Comrie

The unconfirmed starting goalkeeper is Connor Hellebuyck, who continues to get the ball in goal. Eric Comrie will likely start tomorrow against the Kings. After Hellebuyck’s most recent start, he now has a record of 9-11-4 with a GAA of 2.63 and an SV% of 0.903. The rest of the Jets lineup appears largely unchanged from their last game, with the exception of Logan Stanley who is back from his one-game suspension at Haydn Fleury’s previous spot. Luke Schenn remains on the third couple, which recently opened up for a “change of scenery.” 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.

Oilers projected lineup

Nugent-Hopkins–McDavid–Hyman

Podkolzin – Draisaitl – Kapanen

Howard – Henrique* – Roslović

Janmark – Lazar – Savoie

Ekholm–Bouchard

Nurse – Regula

Stastney-Emberson

Ingram

Pickard

*Henrique is injured and the Oilers could use Andrew Mangiapane, Trent Frederic or someone else at this spot.

The Oilers lineup is now only missing a few injured players. The lineup still features some young talent inside and a few offseason additions who got healthy due to poor performances. Looking at the Oilers’ player stats through 43 games, Connor McDavid continues to lead the way with a 75-point lead in the league. Connor Ingram is the unconfirmed starting goalkeeper. Ingram will get his chances in the NHL with Jarry injured, but he’s doing just fine while sharing the net with Calvin Pickard. Ingram has a 3-2-0 record with a 3.02 GAA, 0 shutouts and an .889 SV%.

Jets player to watch: Nino Niederreiter

Tonight, each team’s player will be a player recently named to the Olympic hockey roster for their respective country. Nino Niederreiter (Switzerland) hasn’t had his most productive season in 2025-26, but he still ranks fourth among Jets forwards in scoring. In 40 games, Niederreiter has 6 goals and 9 assists for 15 points. The score isn’t quite right for Niederreiter yet, but compared to other Jets forwards not on the top line, Niederreiter remains an effective member of this forward line. Niederreiter is also a veteran leader on this team, and it’s only a matter of time before we see even more Nino magic on the ice.

Oilers player to watch: Leon Draisaitl

Connor McDavid should always be watched when he’s on the ice, but there’s another Oilers superstar who could very well be the captain of Team Germany at the Olympics: Leon Draisaitl. In his last five games, Drasaitl has five points and remains second on the Oilers with 60 points. Every time Draisaitl is on the ice (especially on the power play), the Oilers are at risk of scoring. The Jets will of course have to keep an eye on McDavid at all times, but Draisaitl is the second option on this Oilers team that remains a consistent and dangerous scoring threat on a nightly basis.

The Puck Drop in Winnipeg takes place just after 7pm CST. Tonight’s game will be the last time the Jets face the Oilers for the 2025-26 season, so they will be eager to end this 10-loss streak against this Canadian opponent. Stay tuned here to Jets Nation for a recap of the action as the Jets look to finally win a hockey game, something that hasn’t happened in a long time.

PRESENTED BY PRAIRIE TOYOTA DEALERS

This article is sponsored by your Prairie Toyota dealers. JetsNation is for the
fans, by the fans!