Maybe Saturday night hockey will bring the Jets a much needed win, as the Jets battle the visiting Washington Capitals. The Jets lost 6-3 to the Bruins in Winnipeg on Thursday, as an early goal from Morgan Barron was quickly matched with 3 goals in a 3 minute span for the Bruins not much later. The rest of the game the Jets just weren’t ever really in it.  Tonight’s opponent, the Capitals, continue to play like a top 5 team in the NHL, currently on a 3-0-2 stretch in their last 5 games. The 28th overall 14-15-1 Winnipeg Jets and the 4th overall 18-9-4 Capitals will clash at Canada Life Centre, two teams on completely different sides of the league standings.

The Winnipeg Jets and Washington Capitals played each other once this regular season already in Washington in November 26th. The Capitals won that game 4-3, as the Capitals outshot the Jets 35-21 on a night where Eric Comrie kept them in the game as long as possible. Tonight’s game will be the final of just two matchups this season. In their last 10 matchups, the two teams have been pretty even, with the Jets record 4-5-1 in those 10 games.

The injury report for the Winnipeg Jets continues to remain at just two names. Hellebuyck continues to “get closer” from returning from knee surgery, and Hellebuyck wasn’t completely ruled out from starting tonight according to a report yesterday afternoon. Haydn Fleury has officially been cleared to resume playing, and he continues to practice with the hopes of cracking the lineup soon.

The Capitals have three players listed on their injury report, two of which were added within the last few days. Former Winnipeg Jet Pierre-Luc Dubois is out long-term with an abdomen injury, and he’s expected to be out until early March. Ryan Leonard recently suffered a shoulder injury and is expected to be out until the end of December. Backup goaltender Charlie Lindgren has an upper body injury and is considered “day-to-day”.

Connor – Scheifele – Iafallo

Perfetti – Namestnikov – Vilardi

Niederreiter – Lowry – Koepke

Barron – Toews – Nyquist

Morrissey – DeMelo

Samberg – Pionk

Stanley – Schenn

Comrie

DiVincentiis

The unconfirmed starting goalie is Eric Comrie. Dominic DiVincentiis (the Jets backup) will likely not got a start before Hellebuyck returns, as his return is reportedly close. After Comrie’s most recent appearance, he now holds a 6-8-1 record with a 3.30 GAA and a .885 SV%. The rest of the Jets lineup remains unchanged (from Tuesday night’s game) as of this morning. There were several announced lineup changes before last 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.

Ovechkin – Strome – McMichael

Protas – Sourdif – Wilson

Beauvillier – Dowd – Frank

Duhaime – Lapierre – Milano

Fehervary – Carlson

Chychrun – Roy

Sandin – Van Riemsdyk

Thompson

Bjorklund

The Capitals lineup is talented throughout, with a good mix of youth and experience. There’s several players “on the rise” on this team, which has led them to their fantastic early quarter season success. Looking at the Capitals’ player stats through 31 games, Tom Wilson leads the way with 32 points. Logan Thompson is the unconfirmed starting goalie. Thompson has been terrific this season, making a strong case to make Team Canada, holding a 13-6-3 record with a 1.96 GAA and a .926 SV%.

The Jets depth scoring is still lacking, but one player that hopefully will be contributing soon is Barron. As the Jets continue to shuffle lines, Barron has found himself already on the wing and as a centre with at least 4 different linemates this season. I’ve talked before about how Barron is one of those players that can play well in different roles, but the Jets at some point need to “stabilize” their forward lines. In 24 games, Barron has 4 goals and 4 assists for 8 points. On the surface that doesn’t seem like much, but the 4th line forward is currently on pace to surpass his career high in points of 21 back in 2022-23.

Standing at 6’6″, 250 lbs, Protas is a forward who you won’t miss when he’s on the ice. The 24-year old from Belarus continues to develop as a strong two-way forward who excels in various roles. Protas has 3 goals in the last 5 games, and in 31 games this season he has 10 goals and 10 assists for 20 points. Protas’ ice time changes a bit game to game, but sometimes he’s one of the Capitals’ forwards that get the most ice time. Last season was Protas’ big breakout season, scoring 30 goals and adding 36 assists for 66 points. Even with his size, Protas does a great job of not taking penalties throughout his career, so he’ll be someone that the Jets defenders will have to keep their eye on tonight.

Puck drop in Winnipeg is set for just after 6:00 pm CT. Tonight’s game will hopefully end with a very much needed Jets win, however that may happen. Stay tuned here at Jets Nation for a recap of the action, as the Jets look to give their fans a big victory at Canada Life Centre on a Saturday night.