It wasn’t quite the home opener that Jets fans wanted, but they are back at home for an afternoon game today against the Los Angeles Kings. The home opener player introductions got the crowd at Canada Life Centre ready for game 1 of 82, but it didn’t go their way against a talented Dallas Stars team. Kyle Connor led the way for the Jets with a hat trick, and Mark Scheifele (3) and Dylan DeMelo (2) had multi-assist nights.

Just like last game, before looking at the starting lineups, expected starting goalies and a player to watch from each team, we need to quickly check in with the injury report from each team. After officially ruling Jonathan Toews as “good to go” for the home opener, the Jets are left with a trio of injuries. Captain Adam Lowry, Cole Perfetti and Dylan Samberg were all introduced to Jets fans on Thursday night, but they all remain out of the Jets lineup for at least a few more weeks.

The Kings were fortunate to avoid many injuries in the pre-season and their first few games. Kyle Burroughs and Corey Perry are the two Kings on the injury report, both fairly important depth pieces for this team that is looking to make a deep playoff run season. The Kings are one of the few teams to have already played 2 games, so this would be a good chance for the Jets to capitalize on the Kings early busy schedule.

Both team’s lineups were unconfirmed as of last night, but it appears that both teams will be using their same line combinations from their last games.

Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi

Nyquist – Toews – Chibrikov

Niederreiter – Namestnikov – Iafallo

Koepke – Barron – Pearson

Morrissey – DeMelo

Fleury – Pionk

Stanley – Schenn

Hellebuyck

Comrie

Kuzmenko – Kopitar – Kempe

Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere

Foegele – Danault – Moore

Malott – Turcotte – Armia

Anderson – Doughty

Edmundson – Clarke

Dumoulin – Ceci

Kuemper

Forsberg

Gustav Nyquist will be the Jets player that I will watching closely this afternoon. The Jets new 2nd line looked pretty good on opening night (despite 0 points), especially considering it was a line made of a player (Nyquist) making his Jets debut, Toews’ first game in 2+ years, and an inexperienced prospect in Chibrikov. Nyquist is looking to re-gain his scoring touch from his 2023-24 season, and tonight would be a good night for him to get on the scoresheet.

Quinton Byfield is the Kings 2nd line centre, and he’s looking for that “next” step in his young career. In 2 games, Byfield has a goal and an assist, and in both games he’s been a player you notice every time he’s on the ice. The electric mix of size and skill makes Byfield a tough player to match up with no matter the situation. I would assume the Jets 3rd or 4th line will match up against Byfield’s line, and he will be the player the Jets need to shutdown if they want to win this game.

Puck drop at Canada Life Centre will be just after 12:30 pm CT. This game is the first of 16 games on the NHL schedule today, but it is the only one at this time slot, meaning the Jets and Kings will have the spotlight on this Saturday afternoon.

After this afternoon’s game, the Jets will begin their first “road trip”, beginning with an afternoon Canadian Thanksgiving Day game at 12:00 pm CT against the New York Islanders. As always check back here at Jets Nation for a recap for this afternoon’s game, where the Jets look to pick up their first win of the season.