The Winnipeg Jets will play game 2 of their current 8 game home stand tonight against the Detroit Red Wings. Thursday night’s game didn’t end how the Jets would have liked, going from having a 3-2 lead late against the Ducks to losing the game 4-3 in overtime. Tonight’s game falls on my birthday, so I’m hoping the Jets can move on from that loss and get a big win tonight for me against a team that they’ve had a lot of recent success against as of late.

Thursday night’s single point was good enough to keep the Jets in 1st place overall in the NHL league standings with 56 points. The Vegas Golden Knights continue to inch closer to the Jets in the standings, sitting at 55 points with 2 less games played, and Vegas is currently 8-2-0 in their 10 games. On the other side of the standings, near the bottom, are the Red Wings at 26th overall with a 16-18-4 record. Red Wings fans were hoping that this season would be the year they could finally make a return to the playoffs, but their start so far this season has left the organization with more questions about how they can make their current roster better.

Tonight’s matchup will be the 2nd time these 2 teams have clashed this season, most recently on October 30th, 2024. The Jets won that game 6-2, highlighted by a 2 goal performance from Neal Pionk and a 3 point night for Kyle Connor. As mentioned earlier, the Jets have had great success against the Red Wings lately. The Jets are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games against the Red Wings, and they have a +16 goal differential in those games. The last 4 meetings have all been wins for the Jets, with Winnipeg outscoring Detroit in those tilts by a score of 21-7. Detroit has had shaky goaltending this season, so it will be a perfect time for the Jets top players to get on the scoresheet tonight.

Yesterday the Jets held an optional practice, giving an opportunity for those players that have been out of the lineup a chance to skate. Dylan Samberg remains in a “non-contact” jersey, and Mason Appleton and Haydn Fleury both remain “week-to-week”. While the Jets seemed to have found some good chemistry with some newly formed line combinations, expect them to continue to shuffle the bottom pairing lines a bit more while the injured players remain out of the lineup. Alex Iafallo seems to be a good fit (even if temporary) on the 3rd line with Nino Niederreiter and Adam Lowry. Iafallo got a goal and an assist last game, and now has 5 points in his last 10 games.

Tonight’s projected starting goalies are Cam Talbot (DET) and Connor Hellebuyck (WPG). I’m not surprised that the Jets will go back to Hellebuyck tonight, as the last game was on Thursday and the team will be playing at home for the next 2 weeks. The Red Wings have been almost equally dividing games between Alex Lyon and Cam Talbot, but tonight’s game should see the Wings turn to the veteran goalie Talbot. The Red Wings will be looking to pick up their second win in 2025, currently on a 3 game win streak, while the Jets are looking to pick up win number 1 of the new year.

The Red Wings and Jets will be featured on Saturday night hockey, and will be available on TSN 3/4 as well as on ESPN+ (regionally exclusive) with puck drop coming up just after 6:00 pm CT. The Jets will be looking to pick up their 1st win of 2025 and their first win of this long 8 game home stand against a Red Wings team that will be looking to pick up their 4th straight win. I expect a high scoring, action-packed game on this Saturday night that will hopefully end with a Jets victory.