After an embarrassing performance in Utah on Monday night, the Winnipeg Jets (31-14-3) look to salvage their short two-game road trip with a win. Tonight, they will battle the Colorado Avalanche (28-19-1) for the third time in 23 days.

On Monday, the Jets found themselves down 4-0 in the third period. Though they made an attempt at a comeback, cutting the lead to 4-2, it was too little, too late. The Utah Hockey Club ultimately held on to win 5-2. In this matchup, the Jets seemed to mismanage the puck on every play, giving Utah many opportunities to score.

Head coach Scott Arniel did not hold back after the game. He deeply expressed his displeasure with the team’s effort: “That was embarrassing,” Arniel said. “That was, of all the games this year, that was the most embarrassing game for me, for our players, I take full credit I gotta be the one that holds these guys accountable and make sure we’re better. That was embarrassing. From top to bottom, we did a horsesh-t job.”

I’m sure going into this matchup the Jets don’t want to do a “horsesh-t job” like on Monday night.

On the other side of the ice, the Colorado Avalanche are concluding a five-game homestand tonight. They’re recently coming off a 3-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Monday. So far on this homestand, Colorado is 2-2-0 and they have been playing in a win-loss pattern this past month (win then lose).

The two teams just met less than two weeks ago in Winnipeg, where the Jets shut out the Avalanche 3-0. Nikolaj Ehlers scored the game-winning goal just 1:08 into the first period—his 13th of the season—and later sealed the win with an empty-netter. Tonight’s game will conclude the season series between these Central Division rivals, with the Jets holding a 2-1-0 record against Colorado.

As expected, Connor Hellebuyck will get the start between the pipes. Hellebuyck is coming off one of his few down games against Utah the other night. He stopped 24 out of 28 shots for a .852 SV% in the 5-2 outing. Hellebuyck is currently on a three-game shutout streak against the Avalanche, dating all the way back to Apr. 13th, 2024.

Colorado will go with Mackenzie Blackwood in the crease tonight. Blackwood stopped 23 out of 26 shots in the loss to Minnesota for a .885 SV%. Despite the mediocre numbers, Blackwood made some huge stops in the contest which gave his team a chance to win.

Connor – Scheifele – Iafallo

Ehlers – Namestnikov – Vilardi

Niederreiter – Kupari – Perfetti

Barron – Gustafsson – Appleton

Morrissey – DeMelo

Samberg – Pionk

Fleury – Stanley

Hellebuyck

Colton – MacKinnon – Rantanen

Drouin – Mittelstadt – Lehkonen

Kiviranta – Kelly – O’Connor

Innala – Parssinen – Ivan

Toews – Makar

Girard – Manson

Middleton – de Haan

Blackwood

Game time is at 8:30 p.m. CT and it’s available to watch on TSN3.

Be sure to check back here after the game for a full recap and analysis!