Connor Hellebuyck, Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey are just over a week away from heading to Montreal and Boston to represent their countries at the 4 Nations face-off tournament. Mark Scheifele is still considered “next up” for Canada too, but for now, these 4 stars have 2 more games to play with the league leading Jets. Tonight’s opponent, the Carolina Hurricanes, are sitting tied with the Oilers for 4th place in the league standings. It’s going to be a 2nd straight tough test for the Jets, who will battle a team entering this game on a 3-1-1 stretch. As for the Jets, their current league best 6 game win streak will be on the line.

Saturday night’s game against the Capitals was a well earned win in overtime. It was the type of game that really goes to show the league that the Jets are for real this year. Respect has to be given to the Capitals too, as nobody expected them to be 2nd in the league standings at this point in this season. However, the Hurricanes were given some high expectations before the season started. Following the blockbuster move to acquire Mikko Rantanen, the Hurricanes are settling in with a big new piece that can help them be even more successful.

As this is game number 55 (good luck charm for Scheifele?) already for the Jets this regular season, they will only have 1 more game before the 2 week break, where as most teams will have 2-3 more. The Islanders, who just had their win streak ended, will be in Winnipeg on Friday night. That game will be special for me, as I’m travelling to Winnipeg from Vancouver in a few days to watch my first Jets game at Canada Life Centre. Make sure to follow our Jets Nation socials (links at top of the article), as I’ll be sharing my experience on game day.

No changes are expected in the Jets lineup tonight, as they will stick with what has been working during this win streak. On Sunday afternoon, Parker Ford and Brad Lambert were sent back to the Manitoba Moose, but this move was likely done to accrue some cap space. Ford and Lambert will likely be back with the Jets today, as the Jets still only have 11 healthy forwards. Adam Lowry and Morgan Barron both remain “week-to-week”, and the next update on their statuses will likely come during or after the 4 Nations face-off break.

Tonight’s expected (but currently unconfirmed) starters are Pyotr Kochetkov and Connor Hellebuyck. Kochetkov has settled in nicely as the Hurricanes current starter, as Frederik Andersen continues to be troubled with injuries at this stage in his career. Kochetkov is 18-9-3, has a 2.48 GAA, a .903 save percentage and 1 shutout. In the other net will likely be Connor Hellebuyck. It won’t surprise me if Comrie starts tonight, but I do know that Comrie will almost certainly get 1 of these final 2 games before the break, to allow Hellebuyck some extra rest before playing for team USA. Hellebuyck continues to be on track for his 3rd Vezina Trophy, holding down a 32-7-2 record, a 2.00 GAA and a .927 save percentage with 6 shutouts.

Puck drop at Canada Life Centre will be shortly after 7:00 pm CT. The Jets and Hurricanes have split their last 10 games, each winning 5 of them. These two teams only met once in 2024, when the Jets won 5-3 in Carolina on March 2nd. Tonight is another chance for Mark Scheifele to take sole position of number 1 in goals in Jets franchise history. The home fans would love to see it happen at the Canada Life Centre, and you can be assured that the red hot top line will give Scheifele a few chances to make that happen. Tonight’s game will be another tough test for the Jets, but it’s one that can be won if the team plays like it continues to do on this win streak.

Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi
Ehlers – Namestnikov – Perfetti
Niederreiter – Kupari – Appleton
Iafallo – Gustafsson – Ford
Lambert

Morrissey – DeMelo
Samberg – Pionk
Stanley – Miller
Heinola – Fleury

Hellebuyck & Comrie