With just under 2 weeks before the 2025 4 Nations face-off begins, the Jets play their final game on their current 3 game road trip. Tonight’s matchup is a real clash of the best, as the top 2 teams in the NHL league standings will be under the spotlight on this Saturday night. Entering tonight’s game on a 5 game win streak, the Jets put on a performance to be proud of with their 6-2 win in Boston on Thursday night. The Capitals enter tonight’s game 3-1-1 in their last 5 games, and they continue to play well above pre season expectations.

Thursday night’s win in Boston kept the Jets at the top of the league standings for the end of the 4th straight month. The Jets are 1 point ahead of the Capitals, but the Jets have played 53 games already, tied for the most in the league. After the 2nd place Caps, there’s starting to be a bit of a cap between the next set of good teams. The Oilers, Hurricanes and Golden Knights all sit tied for 3rd place overall with 68 points. In their last 10 matchups, the Jets are only 3-5-2 against the Capitals. These 2 teams don’t play each other often, and this will be their 1st head to head since the Jets lost 3-0 in Washington on March 24th, 2024.

Looking ahead to the rest of the Jets schedule before the 4 Nations face-off break, the Jets play 2 games, both at home, over the next week. The Jets will return home on Tuesday to play the Carolina Hurricanes, featuring newly acquired Mikko Rantanen. Friday, February 7th, the Jets take on the Islanders, who are currently on the largest win streak in the league currently at 6 games. I’ll be in attendance for the Islanders game, as I’m making the trip from Vancouver to Winnipeg next week to check out my 1st Jets game in Winnipeg. Stay tuned before and after that game, as I’ll be going over that game in detail and my overall experience in Canada Life Centre.

Back to the Jets, the team continues to be near full-health, with only 2 players on the current injury report. Adam Lowry was recently confirmed to be out until after the 4 Nations face-off tournament with an upper-body injury. Morgan Barron’s injury status was confirmed on Thursday, as Scott Arniel said that he’s being considered as “week-to-week” with an undisclosed injury. Expect the Jets to use to same lineup as they did in Boston, including Parker Ford who played, and scored, in his 1st NHL game on Thursday.

The expected (but unconfirmed) starting goalies for tonight’s matchup are Connor Hellebuyck and Logan Thompson. Not only is tonight’s game a battle of the two best teams in the standings, but it’s also a battle of the top 2 goalies in terms of all of the important goalie statistics. Hellebuyck leads the league with 32 wins, an outstanding 2.00 GAA and a .927 save percentage with 6 shutouts. Thompson, fresh off signing a 6-year, 31.5 million dollar deal on Monday, is an exception 23-2-3 this season. Not only are the Capitals scoring at a much higher rate than they were last season, but both of their goalies are playing to the best of their abilities. Thompson has a 2.12 GAA, a .927 save percentage (tied with Hellebuyck) and 2 shutouts. Tonight’s game could be a classic low scoring goalie duo if Hellebuyck and Thompson play like they have all season up to this point.

Tonight’s puck drop on “Hockey Night in Canada” is shortly after 6:00 pm CT. One milestone to watch for tonight involves Mark Scheifele. After scoring his 31st goal of the season on Thursday (good for 2nd in the league @ Team Canada), Scheifele sits tied at 1st with Ilya Kovalchuk at 328 career goals in Jets franchise history. Tonight would be a perfect night to set the franchise record, especially in front of a full crowd on a Saturday night. Kyle Connor is also getting extra attention this season, as his 30 goals make him and Scheifele the 1st duo in the league this season to reach 30 goals each. I continue to be simply amazed by the play of the Jets 1st line, as they continue to push franchise records and career bests. Check back here post-game for a game recap and analysis, and get ready to watch the Jets attempt to go for their 6th straight win.