Perhaps being featured on Hockey Night in Canada will give the Jets whatever they need to end this losing streak. Tonight, the Jets will play their second game of 2026 at Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. The Jets suffered their 8th straight loss on Thursday night against the Maple Leafs. Although the Jets finally found some goal scoring (mostly from the top line), the goaltending and defense just wasn’t there, losing 6-5. The hosting Senators are currently on a solid 6-3-1 stretch in their last 10 games as they stay competitive in the Eastern Conference. Meanwhile, the Jets are now 1-6-3 in their last 10 games and continue to sit at the very bottom of the NHL league standings.

The still 32nd overall 15-20-4 Winnipeg Jets and the 21st overall 19-15-5 Senators will clash on this Saturday night, looking for the important two points. The Winnipeg Jets and Ottawa Senators have matched up once this regular season, a 3-2 overtime win for the Senators in Winnipeg on December 15th. After tonight, the season series is over, as these two Canadian teams won’t meet until next season. The Jets are 6-3-1 in their last 10 games against the Senators, with most of the games ending with one or two goal wins/losses.

The injury report for the Winnipeg Jets continues to be empty. There’s been a few “close calls” the past few games, but the team remains at full health. The Senators continue to remain mostly injury-free, with two players recently added to their injury report. Lars Eller has a foot injury which will keep him out of the lineup for around one more week. Linus Ullmark is out of the lineup for personal reasons, and he’s expected to return to the team some time in the coming week.

Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi

Perfetti – Toews – Iafallo

Barron – Lowry – Niederreiter

Koepke – Namestnikov – Pearson

Morrissey – Pionk

Samberg – DeMelo

Stanley – Miller

Hellebuyck

Comrie

The unconfirmed starting goalie is Connor Hellebuyck, who is back in goal after Eric Comrie started the second game of a back to back on Thursday night. After Hellebuyck’s most recent start, he now holds a 9-10-3 record with a 2.51 GAA and a .907 SV%. The rest of the Jets lineup appears mostly unchanged, with the exception of Colin Miller re-enterting the lineup as Stanley’s defense partner on the 3rd pairing. As usual, there could be some announced lineup changes by the Jets prior to the game, so make sure to stay tuned to the Jets official X/Twitter account for any late lineup additions or changes prior to puck drop.

Greig – Stutzle – Zetterlund

Tkachuk – Cozens – Batherson

Amadio – Pinto – Giroux

Cousins – Halliday – Perron

Sanderson – Zub

Chabot – Jensen

Kleven – Spence

Merilainen

Shepard

The Senators lineup is pretty much at full health, and features several young talents with a few veterans in the mix. Looking at the Senators’ player stats through 39 games, Tim Stutzle leads the way with 42 points in 39 games. Leevi Merilainen is the unconfirmed starting goalie. Merilainen hasn’t had an ideal season so far, but he’s now the Senators starting goalie until Ullmark returns. Merilainen holds a 5-7-0 record with a 3.46 GAA, 0 shutouts and a .871 SV%.

Since being moved back up to the 2nd line, Jonathan Toews has not been able to produce scoring like the Jets were hoping for when they signed him. In 39 games, Toews has just 3 goals and 9 assists for 12 points. Jets fans knew at the start of the season it would take him a while to get back into game shape after two seasons off, but now at almost the halfway point of the season, it’s time to see more results. Toews continues to move around the lineup, but something hasn’t clicked yet when it comes to getting on the scoresheet. Toews remains very valuable at taking faceoffs and in other defensive situations, which is why he remains a player to watch for that can play a big role in getting the Jets some wins.

Tim Stutzle continues to dazzle in his 6th full season in the NHL. The 23-year old German forward leads the Senators with 42 points in 39 games, and 5 points in his last 5 games. Stutzle controls the puck the majority of the time during a Senators powerplay, and he’s one of those players that you need to keep an eye on at all times. Without Stutzle, this Senators team would look a lot different, which shows how important of a player he is to this franchise. Watch for Stutzle to attempt to get on the scoresheet early in tonight’s game.

Puck drop in Ottawa is set for just after 6:00 pm CST. Tonight’s game is simply another chance to end this 8 game losing streak, so at this point the Jets just have to do whatever is needed to get the win. Stay tuned here at Jets Nation for a recap of the action, as the Jets look to win another all-Canadian matchup on the road.