The Jets arrive in Pittsburgh with a little momentum and a lot of special-teams confidence after leaving Detroit on Sunday with their first road win of the season, a 3-2 decision over the Red Wings. Winnipeg banked two points, Tyrel Bauer once again won over teammates and fans, and the power play kept rolling early in the year.
Now comes a tougher test. The Penguins are 2-0 and have piled up 13 goals already, then survived a wild one against Montreal by hanging on for a 6-5 overtime win after building a 5-1 lead. That kind of offense is exactly what can make life messy if Winnipeg gets loose.
There’s also lineup intrigue for the Jets. This should be the first look at goalie Clay Stevenson in net for his new team, and Cole Koepke is expected to slide in for Nino Niederreiter. Winnipeg doesn’t have another center available to replace Vlad Namestnikov, who took two penalties in yesterday’s game, so it looks like he stays in the middle for now.
The projected Jets lines have Connor with Scheifele and Perfetti, Rosén with Björck and Vilardi, Barron with Lowry and Lambert, and Niederreiter with Namestnikov and Iafallo. On defense, it’s Morrissey with DeMelo, Samberg with Pionk, and Ferraro with Bauer, with Stevenson and Skinner listed in goal.
Pittsburgh’s projected group, as reported by Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, has Robertson with Crosby and Rakell, Chinakhov with Novak and Malkin, Kuzmenko with Kindel and Koivunen, and Dewar with Lizotte and Lapierre. The blue line pairs are Carlile with Karlsson, Girard with Korczak, and van Riemsdyk with Letang, with Murashov and Silovs in net.
The Jets’ optional morning skate is at 11:30 AM, and the warm-up skate begins at 6 PM, which should give the clearest picture of any final lineup changes before puck drop. Winnipeg will try to keep the same formula going: stay disciplined, keep winning the special-teams battle, and limit Pittsburgh’s skill.
In Other News...
Kyle Connor Is Forcing Jets Fans To Rethink His Ceiling
Kyle Connor has opened the new season looking every bit like the kind of scorer who can tilt a game before the other side realizes it is in trouble. In Winnipegs 3-2 win over Detroit, he was a force on the power play and kept stacking meaningful touches in a game the Jets needed to have, which only sharpened the conversation around how high his offensive ceiling might really be.
After finishing last season with 92 points, his second straight year above the 90-point mark, Connor is already reminding everyone why he belongs in the top tier of NHL finishers. The early returns are small in sample size, but they are loud enough to make Jets fans wonder whether this is simply another strong start or the beginning of something even bigger. [Read more 🡒]
Kyle Connor Is Giving The Jets Life During A Brutal Standoff
The Jets are trying to open a season under circumstances nobody in the organization would have drawn up, with the noise around their goalie situation hanging over everything. In the middle of it, Kyle Connor has given Winnipeg a badly needed reason to exhale a little, jumping out to a strong start and giving the team some early life while the bigger questions around culture and leadership linger.
What has stood out is not just the production, but the way Connors start has felt like a stabilizer for a club dealing with a brutal standoff elsewhere on the roster. The Daily Faceoff Live conversation around the situation made the same point: teams can survive a lot when the room holds together, and right now the Jets need their best players to set that tone while the rest of the story continues to unfold. [Read more 🡒]
Red Wings Suddenly Face Real Risk With Simon Edvinsson
Simon Edvinssons situation in Detroit has quickly gone from a routine contract headache to something far more delicate. The young defenseman is frustrated, has returned to Sweden and, with the Red Wings also looking at his trade value, the club suddenly has to manage both a negotiation and the possibility that the relationship is already fraying.
For Winnipeg, it is the kind of development worth keeping an eye on because teams around the league are watching the same narrow window for roster opportunities. The Red Wings do not want to let a promising defender drift, but the longer this stretches on, the more the pressure builds on both sides to find a resolution before the situation becomes harder to unwind. [Read more 🡒]