GAMEDAY: Jets at Senators

OTTAWA – A three-game road trip comes to a close for the Winnipeg Jets tonight against an equally desperate team in the Ottawa Senators.

The Jets (15-20-4) are trying to erase the memory of a frustrating trip that has a pair of one-goal losses – in wildly different fashions – to Detroit and Toronto. At the same time, they hope to exact a bit of revenge against a Senators club that used a late third-period goal to force overtime at Canada Life Centre before Brady Tkachuk’s winner in the extra frame handed the Jets a 3-2 defeat.

Overall, Winnipeg is 4-10-4 this season in one-goal games, an area that was a great strength for the team not only last year (when they were 19-4-4), but the last few seasons.

“In the last three years, we were one of the best teams in the league in one goal games and a lot of the same guys are here,” head coach Scott Arniel said after the loss in Toronto. “To me that's a mindset. That means you're doing the right things to get yourselves there and now all of a sudden, now you've really got to dig in.

“It's got to be the shot blocking, the wall plays, the net-front battles, the having the responsibility of making sure the puck gets out of our zone into their zone. Those are all things that, when you're on your game, they become habits and it's continuous habits.”

Saturday night’s tilt against the Senators is also an opportunity for the Jets to snap the current eight-game winless skid that started way back on December 15 against the Senators.

Winnipeg has liked big chunks of their game for nearly 11 of the last 12 periods. However, they’re well aware that results are what matters, and they need to start putting up some results to begin any climb up the standings, especially in the competitive Western Conference.

“We’re right in there. We’re right in there in games,” said Scheifele, who leads the team with 20 goals, the 11^th straight season the 32-year-old has hit the 20-goal mark. “We just have to keep the faith, keep the faith that we are a strong team, close teams out, do the right things over and over and that will get us a win.”

Based on the line rushes at the morning skate, Nino Niederreiter will draw into the line-up with Gustav Nyquist coming out.

"Collectively, we all haven’t been producing and we have to find a way with the minutes we have to get more out of it. That’s what we’ve been doing. At the end of the day we’re all professional and we have to be better," said Niederreiter, who says he's never experienced the type of skid the Jets are experiencing, both in final results and offensively.

"It’s been a learning process for myself to stay with it, don’t get overly frustrated," Niederreiter said. "At the same time, it’s your job to get on the board. When you’re not doing it, it’s something you have to find."

The expected line-up looks like this:

Winnipeg didn’t practice on Friday after playing in back-to-back games in Detroit and Toronto, but there was still news around the team as Kyle Connor and Connor Hellebuyck were named to the United States of America’s Olympic Men’s team for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milano-Cortina. Both players wore the red, white, and blue at the 4-Nations Face-Off last February and will represent their country at the Olympics for the first time.

They’ll be joined on USA’s team by Senators defenceman Jake Sanderson and Brady Tkachuk. They’re two of five Olympians on the Senators, a list that includes Tim Stutzle (Germany), Lars Eller (Denmark), and Nikolas Matinpalo (Finland).

The Senators (19-15-5) sit eighth in the Atlantic Division, but just three points back of the final wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference as their season nears the midway mark. Fabian Zetterlund’s goal with 2:22 remaining in regulation helped Ottawa to a 4-3 win over Washington on New Year’s Day, and improved the team’s record to 6-3-1 in their last 10 games.

Linus Ullmark, who made 23 saves on 25 shots against Winnipeg in December, has taken a leave of absence from the team for personal reasons. The Senators will also have both Shane Pinto and Thomas Chabot in the line-up, both of whom didn’t play against the Jets last month.

Pinto had two assists against the Capitals, his second game since returning from an injury sustained in early December against the Rangers. Chabot assisted on Zetterlund’s eventual game-winner over Washington and played 22:54.

The Jets will do their usual pre-scout video work to prepare for the Senators but, ultimately, they know if they want to have success in the road trip finale, it comes down to their own performance.

“That has kind of been our group right now, trying to find that consistency in all areas, both offensively and defensively. Players being consistent, not just shift to shift but period to period,” Arniel said. “Those are all things that, when you're on your game, they become habits and it's continuous habits. Right now we're trying to get guys to be consistent with it."

Puck drop is set for 6 pm CT.