The Winnipeg Jets hit the ice this afternoon at Canada Life Centre to open up their 2025-26 NHL pre-season. The six game pre-season started against a Central Division rival, the Minnesota Wild. The Jets will play two games against the Wild, two against the Oilers, and two against the Flames during the pre-season, one at home and one away. These games serve as the warm up to the regular season, which kicks off October 9th at Canada Life Centre against the Dallas Stars.

This afternoon’s lineup featured mostly prospects, with a few mandatory (in order to meet the requirement) veterans inserted at various spots. The spotlight in the opening pre-season game for almost any team is their top prospects, and that was the case this afternoon with names like Brayden Yager, Brad Lambert, Nikita Chibrikov and Elias Salomonsson all getting significant ice time. Thomas Milic, the Jets 5th round pick from the 2023 NHL Draft, got the start in goal. Here’s a recap of what took place at Canada Life Centre on the Jets opening pre-season game.

The first 5 minutes of the game were pretty uneventful, with the Jets managing the first and only shot in the game. That all changed after a pair of Wild penalties, and the Jets suddenly had a great opportunity to open the scoring on a 5 on 3. 30 seconds into the two man advantage, Elias Salomonsson fired a shot on goal that was set up by Samuel Fagemo. Jesper Wallstedt made the initial save, but Morgan Barron was right there to bury the rebound the give the Jets a 1-0 lead.

Canada Life Centre was fired up after that opening goal, and the Jets continued to be the team in control of this game. The shots on goal were at one point 7-0 for the Jets, and just over 2 minutes later the Jets doubled their lead. After a nice breakout pass from Colin Miller, Fagemo found Kevin He across the ice and he entered the zone. He made a very nice drop pass to Danil Zhilkin, who snapped one past Wallstedt to put the Jets up 2-0.

Kevin He was called for hooking with 6 minutes left in the opening 20, but the Jets penalty killers shut down the Wild. The opening 20 minutes was just what the Jets fans wanted to see, as they led 2-0 while outshooting the Wild 9-3.

The energy from both teams appeared to pick up as the 2nd period got going. The Wild would cut the Jets lead in half 4 minutes into the 2nd after a zone entry which eventually set up Yakov Trenin in front for a snap shot that went past Milic. The rest of the 2nd period went without a single penalty or goal, however the game was still fairly competitive. The Jets outshot the Wild 6-5 in the 2nd, bringing the total shots on goal through 40 minutes to 15-8 Jets.

The Jets (unlike the Wild) decided to share the net this pre-season game. Isaac Poulter entered the Jets net for the 3rd period, replacing Thomas Milic, who made 7 saves on 8 shots. The Wild generated the first few chances in the final 20 minutes of the Jets opening pre-season game. It looked (from just pure observation) that the Wild were begin to battle back in this game, but the Jets got a chance to stop that momentum with a powerplay.

The Jets powerplay couldn’t come up with a clutch goal, and just over a minute after the powerplay was over the Jets took a penalty of their own. Despite a few solid chances from the Wild, the Jets penalty killers held their own and killed off this powerplay at an important point in the game. The Wild weren’t giving up easy this game, and the Jets would take their 2nd straight cross-checking penalty with just under 5 minutes to play.

With the Wild’s 3rd powerplay of the night winding down, Hunter Haight tied this hockey game at 2. The Wild quickly entered the Jets zone and set Haight up off the rush before he wristed one past Poulter from just above the faceoff dot. This pre-season game needed overtime, with this game still tied at 2 and the Wild outshooting the Jets 9-4 in the 3rd period.

Just 34 seconds into overtime, David Jiricek tripped Brad Lambert, sending the Jets to a 4 on 3 powerplay. The powerplay was unsuccessful, but the Jets were outshooting the Wild 4-0 in OT. After the penalty was over, the teams played 4 on 4 until the next whistle, which didn’t happen for almost 2 minutes.

Very soon after, the Wild completed the comeback, winning this game with a minute left in overtime. Yakov Trenin scored his 2nd of the game (on the Wild’s 2nd shot in OT), and the Jets unfortunately lost this game 3-2.

The pre-season continues for the Jets back at Canada Life Centre on Tuesday night. The Edmonton Oilers make a visit to Winnipeg, with the puck drop set for 7 pm CT. Stay tuned here at Jets Nation for more Jets coverage throughout the NHL pre-season.