{"id":936176,"date":"2026-10-17T07:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T07:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/936176\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T07:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T07:54:13","slug":"gm-8-preview-carolina-hurricanes-winnipeg-jets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/936176\/","title":{"rendered":"GM 8 Preview: Carolina Hurricanes @ Winnipeg Jets"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Winnipeg Jets dropped their second overtime game of the NHL\u2019s 2026-27 campaign to the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday, walking away with 1 point yet still allowing some of their Central Division rivals to surpass them in the standings. <\/p>\n

A very slow start in the loss to the Hawks was the main culprit, but the True Northers did manage to play much better over the final two frames. So which club will show up on Saturday? Before we get to pondering that, here is how the Jets\u2019 division looks before Saturday\u2019s NHL action, courtesy of\u00a0ESPN:<\/p>\n

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Our boys have fallen down closer to where I expected them, but they have done fairly well when you consider the difficult nature of Winnipeg\u2019s opening schedule. Unfortunately it does not ease up any time soon\u2026with 8 of their next 9 games against tough opposition (CAR x2, MTL x2, FLA x2, DAL, & TB). Running this gauntlet will be a true test of the Jets\u2019 resiliency and just might determine how the rest of the season plays out.<\/p>\n

But just like the True North players, we probably shouldn\u2019t get ahead of ourselves and focus on the upcoming opponent. That, of course, would be Nikolaj Ehlers and the Carolina Hurricanes. The Canes are not only riding into town with some shiny Stanley Cup rings on their fingers, but they also have a NHL high 6 game winning streak in their rearview window. <\/p>\n

The Canes\u2019 6-1-1 record puts them in 2nd place in the league, aptly fighting the Vegas Golden Knights for the top spot\u2026potentially on the way to back to back battles for the Cup. The Manitoban squad\u2019s 4-1-2 record is still good enough for a tie for 11th, but six of the clubs ahead of them are in the Western Conference. <\/p>\n

The Jets will be trying to avoid their first multi-game losing streak of the campaign, which is something that the Hurricanes can\u2019t boast, since they dropped their first 2 contests before discovering their winning touch. Carolina has played one more game than Winnipeg, but that isn\u2019t the only reason they are way ahead in some categories. Like their 31 Goals For to the Jets 21 and the Canes\u2019 +12 Goal Differential (WPG even). Lets take a look at how the two clubs squaring off at the Canada Life Centre have performed this season, via\u00a0ESPN\u2018s Team Stats graphic:<\/p>\n

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In the above graph, Winnipeg is only leading in the PP conversion category, which might come in handy since Carolina seems to take a lot of penalties. But otherwise, in shots, goals, and penalty killing, the invading Hurricanes have the edge. They suggest to me that the Jets could have some difficulty creating good scoring opportunities on Saturday afternoon, while our defense may have its own issues containing the Canes\u2019 attack. <\/p>\n

Maybe the goalie information will cheer us up? Here are the figures for the masked men for the Jets & Canes, via\u00a0ESPN:<\/p>\n

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While playoff hero Brandon Bussi has had some struggles early on this year, young Pyotr Kochetkov has stepped up his game. The Hurricanes have split the starts between the 2 tenders and with 4 days off before they face the Jets, they will both be available to coach Rod Brind\u2019Amour. <\/p>\n

Winnipeg has received above average play from Stuart Skinner early on this year, but Clay Stevenson has a -0.91 Goals Saved Above Expected rating after a rough second start. While the line ups won\u2019t be officially known until much closer to game time, due to early start eliminating the pre-game skate, PuckPedia\u00a0is currently predicting the Jets may send Mudd to the wolves today. Here is what they are predicting for each team:<\/p>\n

WINNIPEG JETS LINE UP<\/p>\n

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CAROLINA HURRICANES LINE UP<\/p>\n

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To expand on the offensive differences early on between Carolina & Winnipeg, the Hurricanes have a total of 11 players with at least 4 points\u2026.while our Jets only have 4. The Canes have been led by Sebastian Aho (13 pts) & Andrei Svechnikov (11), then there is Jackson Blake (8) and a bunch of players with 6 (Mark Jankowski, William Carrier, & Sean Walker). Former Jet Nikolaj Ehlers has been held without a goal in 8 games, but does have 4 helpers. <\/p>\n

We all know that winger Kyle Connor has been the True Northers\u2019 early star, piling up 8 goals & 11 points in 7 contests, with Cole Perfetti (8), Mark Scheifele (7), & Neal Pionk (6) chasing him. Rookie Viggo Bjorck is the only Winnipeg skater that has dressed for all 7 games without a point. Personally I think it is just a matter of time, as the 18 yr old has found iron a few times and so far his wingers haven\u2019t been able to capitalize on his dishes. The 2nd unit is getting their looks and that is partially shown by Nino Niederreiter\u2019s play\u2026.in his first 2 starts, the veteran winger ended up with no shots, yet in his 2 games along side the young Swede has seen him get 7 on opposing tenders. <\/p>\n

Some AIH members disagree with that and we will soon see what the True North brain trust feels because decision time for management is coming though, with the option to send Viggo down to the AHL or back overseas so his entry level contract won\u2019t start until next season. Personally, I don\u2019t think the Jets will do that\u2026.though it would certainly make the Manitoba Moose a force, as they have blasted off to a 4-1-0 record with a league leading 25 Goals For and a top 5 in Goals Against.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s hoping the 8th overall pick breaks the goose egg versus Carolina tomorrow\u2026.lets hear your thoughts on the upcoming clash in the Comment section. Do our guys have a chance or should we try to take advantage of sunny Saturday afternoon to do some raking? Anthems starting around 2:30 pm CDT.<\/p>\n

Go Winnipeg Jets!!!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Winnipeg Jets dropped their second overtime game of the NHL\u2019s 2026-27 campaign to the Chicago Blackhawks on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":936177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-936176","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=936176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/936176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/936177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=936176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=936176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=936176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}