The Bruins’ first road trip of the 2026-27 season begins in Manitoba on Friday night, and it comes with a quick reminder of just how compressed this early stretch will be. Boston is in Winnipeg for the first of 14 back-to-back sets on its schedule, then heads straight to Minnesota after the game.
Boston arrives with a 1-0-0 record after shutting out the New York Rangers 3-0 on Tuesday. Winnipeg, meanwhile, is opening its season after not playing since a preseason game last Friday.
The Jets are coming off a rough year by their standards. They finished last season with 82 points, eight shy of a playoff spot, after winning the President’s Trophy in 2024-25. That slide led Winnipeg to take Viggo Björck with the eighth overall pick, and he’ll make his NHL debut tonight on the second line.
Winnipeg will also be missing Connor Hellebuyck, who remains suspended by the team. He did not report to training camp on Sept. 16, which triggered an indefinite suspension. Stuart Skinner, who signed with the Jets this summer, is expected to start Friday.
Boston has not officially named its goalie, though Michael DiPietro is expected to handle one of the games in the back-to-back. DiPietro posted a 34-8-1 record in the AHL last season with a .930 save percentage and a 1.91 goals-against average.
The Bruins did not make any changes to their line combinations from Tuesday’s game, keeping the same groups intact for the morning skate in Winnipeg. That skate is scheduled for 12:30 PM ET, with updates from Marco Sturm to follow.
Winnipeg’s expected forward lines, according to Mitchell Clinton of the Winnipeg Jets, feature Kyle Connor with Mark Scheifele and Cole Perfetti on the top unit. Björck is slotted between Isak Rosen and Gabriel Vilardi on the second line. Morgan Barron, Adam Lowry, and Brad Lambert make up the third line, while Nino Neiderreiter, Vladislav Namestnikov, and Alex Iafallo are together on the fourth.
On defense, the Jets are expected to go with Josh Morrissey and Dylan Demelo, Dylan Samberg and Neal Pionk, and Mario Ferraro and Tyrel Bauer. Skinner’s numbers from 2025-26 were 23-17-9 with an .888 save percentage and a 2.92 goals-against average.
Special teams show Boston with the edge on paper. The Bruins finished last season with a 23.4% power play, good for ninth, while their penalty kill ranked 24th at 77.0%. Winnipeg’s power play was 24th at 18.5%, and its penalty kill came in 21st at 77.6%.
Friday’s meeting is the first of two between the teams this season. They’ll meet again on Wednesday, Nov. 25, in Boston at 7:00 PM.
After Winnipeg, the Bruins’ upcoming slate includes a Saturday night trip to Minnesota, then home games against Ottawa on Monday, Oct. 5, Utah on Thursday, Oct. 8, and Philadelphia on Saturday, Oct.
- Boston then visits San Jose on Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 11:00 PM.
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