Matthews hat trick still stings. Can the Jets regroup, halt the Leafs' surge, and defend home ice?
The 19-22-5 Winnipeg Jets will host the 23-16-8 Toronto Maple Leafs from Canada Life Centre on Saturday evening for a Hockey Day in Canada showdown.
The always entertaining, all-Canadian matchup will be the lone battle between the two rivals in Manitoba this year - a game that often draws as many Leafs fans as that of the hometown Jets.
Photo by Dan Hamilton/USA Today Winnipeg lost a thriller to Toronto a few weeks back in Ontario, with Leafs' captain Auston Matthews recording a hat trick in a multi-goal comeback victory that saw the Leafs win 6-5 in the first game of the 2026 calendar year.
The Jets will be looking to bounce back and will do so in a push for their fifth-straight win, after going winless in 11 games dating back to December 15.
Winnipeg will be without Colin Miller for the next stretch of games, as he recently underwent a procedure on his knee following an injury against the New Jersey Devils last week.
The Jets will ice the same lineup as the one that whipped the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night.
Winnipeg Jets expected line combinations for Saturday, January 17 vs. Toronto:
Connor - Scheifele - Iafallo
Perfetti - Toews - Vilardi
Niederreiter - Lowry - Namestnikov
Koepke - Barron - Pearson
Morrissey - DeMelo
Samberg - Salomonsson
Stanley - Schenn
Hellebuyck
Healthy scratches: Phillips, Nyquist, Zhilkin
Injured: Miller, Fleury