KANATA – As always, two critical points are on the line tonight Winnipeg Jets (41-14-3) take on the Ottawa Senators (29-24-4) outside of the two points in the standings. But after the final buzzer, a few members of the Jets will be hoping to leave the nation’s capital with bragging rights as well.
Assistant coach Marty Johnston was born in Gloucester, ON, which is a 25-minute drive from Canadian Tire Centre and coached the Carleton Ravens from 2007-2017.
Davis Payne served as assistant coach of the Senators from 2019 until December 18, 2023, and Nino Niederreiter will be going up against a former coach of his – Travis Green – who was on the staff of the Portland Winterhawks in 2010-11 when Niederreiter played in the Western Hockey League.
“He was the assistant coach when I was there,” said Niederreiter with a grin, adding he still keeps in touch with his former coach from time to time. “We have a phone call every once in a while in the summer. Even after the game tonight we’ll see each other quickly and see how things are going.”
Of course, the main priority for the Jets is to get to their game early, as they’re taking on a desperate Senators team that has lost four in a row and has fallen just outside of a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Heading into action on Wednesday, the Senators are two points back of Columbus for the final wildcard spot.
Jets head coach Scott Arniel said even though the Senators will be without captain Brady Tkachuk, Shane Pinto, and Josh Norris, the Jets will need to be at their best.
“Whether they have injuries or not, they’re still a dangerous team,” said Arniel. “They’re in a race themselves, obviously, like a lot of these teams we’re facing. We have to go play our game and not worry about who is in there and who isn’t.”
The Jets extended their franchise record win streak to 10 games on Monday with a thrilling 2-1 overtime win over the San Jose Sharks. In fact, Winnipeg became the first team in National Hockey League history to trail in the final minute of regulation in two consecutive games – and win them both.
That’s not exactly how they drew up the game plan, but picking up wins in different ways is important as the season goes on.
“That’s what we’re building toward down the stretch and into the playoffs,” said Logan Stanley. “There are going to be those games when you’re going to be down 1-0 or 2-1 in the third period and you have to find a way to win. I think it’s good for our group’s confidence to know that we can do that.”
Winnipeg recalled Jaret Anderson-Dolan on Wednesday. The 25-year-old forward has 13 points in 38 games with the American Hockey League’s Manitoba Moose this season, and joined the Jets on the road trip that ends in Nashville on Thursday.
“We had a few guys show up on the medical sheet after the San Jose game,” said Arniel. “We wanted to be sure with these back-to-backs that we had enough bodies here because we had the roster spot.”
Arniel said after the morning skate that he doesn’t anticipate any changes to the line-up. Connor Hellebuyck will get the start in goal and this is how the lines looked at morning skate:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti
Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
Gustafsson-Kupari-Iafallo
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Stanley-Miller
Ottawa’s schedule coming out of the 4-Nations Face-Off is a bit lighter than most teams in the league, with just three games in eight days. They dropped the first one, a 5-2 decision to the Montreal Canadiens, on Saturday and have been outscored 19-7 during their four-game skid.
“They’re always competitive, especially in their rink,” said Stanley. “It’s always a tough challenge coming in here. They have skill and a good D corps, so we’ll have to bring our ‘A’ game and it should be a good match-up.”
In the first meeting of the season between the two clubs, the Jets erased a 2-0 deficit to earn a 4-2 victory back on December 28, 2024. Gabriel Vilardi scored the eventual game-winner on the power play with Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, and Nikolaj Ehlers also finding the back of the net in the game.
Vilardi’s power play marker that night was part of a run of seven straight games with a power play goal for the Jets (they went 11-for-27 in that span). Winnipeg’s power play remains the best in the NHL at 32.5 percent, but has gone three straight games without a goal for just the second time this season.
Arniel feels that part of it is the power play personnel getting their flow back after the break, but there are areas to work on.
“There are teams that are certainly ready for us, both five-on-five and special teams. They know the success we’re having and there won’t be any freebies,” said Arniel. “We’ve stressed an awful lot on our special teams our work ethic. Our power play specifically, it’s about outworking the penalty killers and when we get a chance, attack the net. That’s the big part for me.”
Getting to that attack mentality and remaining confident in their game – just like against San Jose – will earn the power play the reward it seeks, according to Niederreiter.
“The biggest thing for us is sticking with it, staying positive, and believe in what we do,” said Niederreiter. “We’ve been successful almost all year long. We do a lot of good things on the power play, just have to stay with it.”
Puck drop is set for 6 pm CT.
