Normally when I think of NHL games on January 1st, I think of the NHL Winter Classic. However, that’s not until tomorrow night in Miami. Tonight, the Jets will play their first game of 2026 at Scotiabank Arena. The Jets suffered their 7th straight loss on Wednesday night against the Red Wings. Although it was another “ok” game for the team, the goals just weren’t there once again. The hosting Maple Leafs are currently on an average 4-4-2 stretch in their last 10 games. Meanwhile, the Jets are a disappointing 1-6-3 in their last 10 games and now sit at the very bottom of the NHL league standings.

The now 32nd overall 15-19-4 Winnipeg Jets and the 21st overall 18-15-6 Maple Leafs will clash on this New Year’s Day, looking for two points to start their 2026. The Winnipeg Jets and Toronto Maple Leafs have not matched up yet this regular season. After tonight, the season series concludes on January 17th in Winnipeg. The Jets are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games against the Leafs, with most of the games ending up being high scoring.

The injury report for the Winnipeg Jets is back to being empty. Josh Morrissey played last game, and seemed fine after being listed as “day-to-day”. The Maple Leafs continue to have some injury problems, with six players listed on their injury report. Dakota Mermis and Brandon Carlo have lower body injuries which will keep them out for a few days to a week. Dakota Joshua and Anthony Stolarz have upper body injuries which will keep them out for 2-4 weeks. Chris Tanev has a groin injury which will keep him out likely for January, and William Nylander has a minor lower body inury will has him listed as “day-to-day”.

Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi

Perfetti – Toews – Iafallo

Barron – Lowry – Pearson

Niederreiter – Namestnikov – Nyquist

Morrissey – DeMelo

Samberg – Pionk

Stanley – Schenn

Comrie

Hellebuyck

The unconfirmed starting goalie is Eric Comrie, who will make his 1st appearance since Hellebuyck returned from injury. After Comrie’s most recent start, he now holds a 6-8-1 record with a 3.30 GAA and a .885 SV%. The rest of the Jets lineup appears mostly unchanged, with the exception of Jonathan Toews as the 2nd line centre and Vladislav Namestnnikov as the 4th line centre. 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.

Knies – Matthews – Domi

Macceli – Tavares – McMann

Cowan – Roy – Robertson

Lorentz – Laughton – Jarnkrok

Reilly – Myers

McCabe – Ekman-Larsson

Benoit – Stecher

Woll

Hildeby

The Maple Leafs lineup has some notable players out with injuries, but it still features several young talents and some new faces to the lineup who can play in various situations. Looking at the Leafs’ player stats through 39 games, the injured William Nylander leads the way with 41 points in 33 games. Joseph Woll is the unconfirmed starting goalie. Woll hasn’t started as many games as he’d like so far this season due to injury, but he’s now back as the Leafs starting goalie. Joseph Woll is starting with Hildeby as the backup while Stolarz is out, and Woll holds a 8-4-1 record with a 2.51 GAA, 1 shutout and a .920 SV%.

Tonight the player to watch from each team will be a 1st line forward. Mark Scheifele has had a great 2025-26 season so far, but it wasn’t enough for him to make the Olympic Hockey Team Canada. Now playing his 1st game since being “snubbed” from the team, you know that Scheifele will have some extra motivation to prove that he should have been a member of this team. In 38 games, Scheifele has 18 goals and 27 assists for 45 points. The scoring consistency continues to be there for the Jets 1st line, and this includes Scheifele, who leads the Jets with 5 points in his last 5 games.

Without Mitch Marner on the team and Nylander out of the lineup, Knies is now the “number 2” option on this Maple Leafs team for scoring. Knies has 35 points in 36 games, and leads the Leafs with 6 points in their last 5 games. Every time Knies is on the ice, the Leafs seem to find a way of producing quality shots on goal when they’re set up in the zone. The Jets will of course need to also watch out for Auston Matthews, ensuring they limit the Leafs star players shots attempts whenever possible. Keep an eye on Knies tonight, as the Jets attempt to slow down one of the rising stars from this Leafs lineup.

Puck drop in Toronto is set for just after 6:00 pm CST. Tonight’s game will be the Jets’ 1st game of 2026, so they’d like to start their new year by ending their current 7 game losing streak. Stay tuned here at Jets Nation for a recap of the action, as the Jets look to win all-Canadian matchup on the road.