BUFFALO – In a way, the victory in Nashville was everything the Winnipeg Jets needed.
Two valuable points in the standings, scoring from a number of lines, key plays on special teams, and big stops from Eric Comrie added up to snap a four-game losing skid.
Now they’ve won one in a row. The focus now is adding another victory on top of that.
To do it, the Jets (13-11-0) will have to get by the Buffalo Sabres, the fourth stop on a five-game road trip for Winnipeg. The Sabres (10-11-4) are last in the Eastern Conference, but they’re most recent outing – a 3-2 shootout win over the surging Minnesota Wild - proves one thing:
On any night, any team in the National Hockey League can beat another.
“They work hard,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “We’re going to have to make sure our competitive level is as good as it was the other night in Nashville. It has to be repeated tonight.”
It’s the first of two meetings this week between the Jets and Sabres, who split their two-game season series last season. The road team won both of those contests in 2024-25, with Winnipeg earning a 3-2 overtime win at KeyBank Center.
Any trip to Buffalo is marked on Alex Iafallo’s calendar. His hometown of Eden, NY is just 17 miles away.
“Always a good time to come back and see family and friends,” said Iafallo. “Have a good dinner at home, see everybody, and in warm-ups throw a few pucks over. It’s always a good time.”
Both the Jets and Sabres feature a ton of talent on both sides with one of the spotlights on Kyle Connor and Tage Thompson. Both American forwards were invited to USA’s Olympic Orientation camp and since the start of the 2023-24 season, only Toronto’s Auston Matthews (112) has more goals by an American skater than Connor’s 87. Just behind Connor, in a tie for third, is Thompson at 85.
That’s just one of the many one-on-one battles that could decide tonight’s tilt. Speaking of one-on-one battles, that was an area of Winnipeg’s game that stood out to Arniel in Nashville.
“I liked a lot of what we did, our battle, our compete, that type of stuff we talked about,” he said. “I thought throughout our lineup, there were one-on-one battles happening and we were winning a lot of them. That was big for us.”
To help in those battles, Winnipeg outhit Nashville 27-19 with veteran defenceman Luke Schenn tying for the team-lead in that category with four.
“Obviously some teams are a little more physical than others that you play, but it shouldn't really change our identity,” said Schenn, who played a season high 19:04. “I think guys did a good job of like you said, being physical tonight, guys getting in the body, and the big hits are obviously awesome. But just overall, getting in battles, getting your nose over the puck, and winning battles and plays on the wall and fore checking and going through guys.”
Winnipeg won’t make any changes to their line-up based on Monday’s morning skate:
