Jets Seek Black Friday Bounce-Back in Marquee Rematch With Hurricanes

On Black Friday, the Winnipeg Jets return to action after dropping their third straight game on Wednesday versus the Washington Capitals. They look for a much needed bounce back game when playing leg one of a road back-to-back against the top seed in the East in the Carolina Hurricanes while on the road in Raleigh. It'll make for a marquee matchup as the Jets are looking to avenge their narrow 4-3 defeat to the Hurricanes on home ice last Friday. 

This will be the 102nd meeting between the two clubs with the Canes holding the historical upper hand with a 57-32-4-8 record versus the Jets all-time. Winnipeg's lineup saw some major changes on Wednesday with the NHL debut of Elias Salomonsson, who had his moments but finished -2 with a solid 16:18 of ice-time. It appears he could get the start once again on Friday while another rookie could make his NHL debut. 

Rookie goaltender Thomas Milic is set to make his NHL debut, stepping into a high-pressure situation that could become a defining moment early in his career. With the Manitoba Moose, Milic has been one of the AHL’s top-performing goalies this season. He joins Winnipeg riding a four-game winning streak and carrying a 5-2-2 record, a .921 save percentage, a 2.14 goals-against average, and one shutout. In the AHL overall, he’s compiled a 29-23-8 record with a 2.88 GAA, underscoring his status as one of the league’s most promising young goalies. 

The most recent set of lineup changes are expected to stay the same but the playing time could shift for some. In Wednesday's loss, Jonathan Toews' fourth line with Gustav Nyquist and Morgan Barron played heavy minutes, the second-most on the team with each of the trio recording over 13 minutes of ice-time.

Each player has been ice cold and Jets bench boss Scott Arniel was likely looking for the group to catch a spark but they did not. Arniel will need to find a way to get the rest of the lineup active as the top line has scored five of Winnipeg's six goals over their three-game losing streak. 

For Carolina, they'll look to keep their stars hot as they performed well in their first contest versus the Jets with Sebastian Aho finishing with two points while Andrei Svechnikov and Seth Jarvis both found the back of the net. Now after seeing this group once before, the Jets can hopefully find better ways to attack and slow down this defense. 

WPG ML (+180) | CAR ML (-222)

WPG +1.5 (-128) | CAR -1.5 (+105)

O/U 6.5 Goals 

The Hurricanes have now won two straight over the Jets with their win earlier this season but prior to that, Winnipeg had won four of their previous five matchups. It’s surprising to see sportsbooks discounting the Jets so heavily, giving them nearly even odds just to cover a one-goal spread. The likely reason is that opponents consistently struggle in Raleigh as Carolina owns the NHL’s second-best home record at 141-43-18 dating back to the 2020–21 season. The Hurricanes trail only the Colorado Avalanche by a single home win, a gap they could close in this contest. 

To prevent a repeat of last week’s outcome, the Jets will need to stay locked in on the Hurricanes’ top players, just as they’ve successfully done in the past. Heading into their previous matchup, Winnipeg had often kept Carolina’s stars in check as Sebastian Aho had recorded points in only two of his previous five games against the Jets, and Seth Jarvis had managed just one point in his last four. That changed last week when both delivered strong performances. If Winnipeg can contain them the way they usually do, they’ll give themselves a strong chance to win.

The Jets will also need contributions from their depth scorers, and they’re overdue for a big night from Cole Perfetti. After a 50-point breakout season, Perfetti has started this year with just one goal and two assists through eight games. He did pick up an assist last Friday, which could be a sign he’s starting to find his rhythm. Ideally, he can build on that and add to his goal total, which sits at just one so far.

Winnipeg: Eric Comrie (Season: 4-4-0 record, 3.01 GAA, .897 SV% | VS CAR: 1-3-0 record, 3.29 GAA, .906 SV% in four games)

Carolina: Frederik Andersen (Season: 5-6-2 record, 3.07 GAA, .878 SV% | VS WPG: 14-2-2 record, 2.86 GAA, .902% in 19 games)

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