Tonight, on Hockey Day in Canada, the Jets will have a chance to pick up their 5th straight win. The Jets earned their 4th straight win, a somewhat surprising 6-2 thrashing on Thursday against the Wild. It was an elite opening 40 minutes for the Jets, and Mark Scheifele led the way with 1 goal and 3 assists. On a night where all the Canadian NHL teams are in action, the Jets will face off against the Maple Leafs, who are 6-1-3 in their last 10 games. With four straight wins, the Jets are now 4-5-1 in their last 10 games.

The still 31st overall 19-22-5 Winnipeg Jets and 13th overall 26-12-9 Leafs will clash on this Saturday night, with these two Canadian teams playing quite well in their last few games. We’re now in the middle of likely the busiest part (month) of the 2025-26 NHL season schedule, and there’s still not much time for teams to reset before their next game. After tonight, the Jets still have 7 more games in January. The schedule is compact at the moment due to the upcoming 3 week Olympic break.

The Maple Leafs and Jets have met once already this regular season. The only matchup was in Toronto on New Year’s Day, where the Jets lost a crazy 6-5 game. The season series concludes tonight, January 17th, in Winnipeg. With a win tonight the Jets would split the season “series” 1-1 against this Canadian team from a competitive Atlantic Division.

The injury report for the Winnipeg Jets still has three names: Haydn Fleury has an upper body injury and is listed as “week-to-week”. Neal Pionk continues to be listed as “week-to-week” with a lower body injury, and that same status remains for Colin Miller. The Leafs continue to have a bunch injuries, with six players currently listed on their injury report. Dakota Joshua, Anthony Stolarz and Chris Tanev have yet to play in 2026. Dakota Mermis is out for a least another week with a lower body injury. Simon Benoit and William Nylander were added to the injury report yesterday, with both of them currently listed as “day-to-day”.

Connor – Scheifele – Iafallo

Perfetti – Toews – Vilardi

Niederreiter – Lowry – Namestnikov

Koepke – Barron – Pearson

Morrissey – DeMelo

Samberg – Salomonsson

Stanley – Schenn

Hellebuyck

Comrie

The unconfirmed starting goalie is Connor Hellebuyck. Eric Comrie will likely start Monday against the Blackhawks or on Tuesday against the Blues. After Hellebuyck’s most recent win, he now holds a 12-12-4 record with a 2.73 GAA and a .901 SV%. The rest of the Jets lineup appears mostly unchanged from their last game. Morgan Barron will be the 4th line centre and Luke Schenn remains on the 3rd pairing with three Jets defencemen still injured. 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.

McMann – Matthews – Domi

Maccelli – Tavares – Nylander* (to be replaced)

Knies – Roy – Robertson

Lorentz – Laughton – Cowan

Rielly – Carlo

McCabe – Stecher

Ekman-Larsson – Myers

Woll

Hildeby

The Maple Leafs lineup is missing a handful of important players. The lineup still features several young talents and some veteran players who continue to play at a high level. Looking at the Maple Leafs’ player stats through 47 games, the injured William Nylander leads the way with 48 points in 37 games. Joseph Woll is the unconfirmed starting goalie. Woll is earning his chances in the NHL alongside Dennis Hildeby with Anthony Stolarz out, and he’s been posting some solid numbers in his starts this season. Woll holds a 11-4-3 record with a 2.73 GAA, 2 shutouts and a .912 SV%.

Tonight the player to watch from each team will be a Canadian centre in honour of today being Hockey Day in Canada. Despite not being selected to play for Team Canada at the Olympics, the 2025-26 season has been fantastic for Mark Scheifele. In 46 games, Scheifele has 23 goals and 35 assists for 58 points, including 10 points in his last 5 games. The Jets depth scoring has improved since their 1st win of this win streak, but the top line, which includes Mark Scheifele, has continued to find success. Scheifele will need a play a big role once again tonight if the Jets want to defeat a good Maple Leafs team.

John Tavares continues to bolster his impressive NHL career in his 8th season with the Leafs. Without Nylander in the lineup, Tavares leads the team in points with 42 in 47 games. In his last 5 games, Tavares has 4 points, and continues to be a talented 2nd line centre behind Auston Matthews. In 47 career games against the Jets, Tavares has 21 goals and 27 assists for 48 points. Look out for Tavares and his line in key matchups throughout the game, and except Tavares’ ice time to slightly increase with his regular linemate Nylander out of the lineup.

Puck drop in Winnipeg is set for just after 6:00 pm CST. Tonight’s game will be the Jets final time seeing the Maple Leafs in the 2025-26 season, so they’d like to continue their four game winning streak against this Canadian opponent. Stay tuned here at Jets Nation for a recap of the action, as the Jets look to win their 5th straight game on Hockey Day in Canada.