Winnipeg Jets vs Tampa Bay Lightning

Mark Scheifele and the Winnipeg Jets take on the Tampa Bay Lightning tomorrow night January 29th, 2026 at 7:00 PM ET. The Winnipeg Jets enter this game with a record of 21-24-7 on the season which places them in 7th place in the Central Division. The Lightning enter this game with a record of 33-14-4 which places them in 1st place of the Atlantic Division.

This marks the first meeting between both of these teams in the 2025-2026 NHL season . The Jets come into this game with a win over the New Jersey Devils. The Lightning on the other hand enter this game on a win over the Utah Mammoth.

It’s really hard to say how the 2025-2026 season has gone for the Winnipeg Jets. The record of the Jets shouldn’t define who they are as team because on paper they have a really good team. A year ago this team had the best record in the NHL which makes it really weird to look at what has gone wrong with this team. They have really good players in Kyle Connor , Josh Morrissey, Connor Hellebuyck , Mark Scheifele, and Gabe Vilardi. Josh Morrissey is a guy who’s a fantastic defenseman that just doesn’t get the attention he deserves which makes him incredibly underrated. He’s got 42 points this year as a defenseman which is fantastic, but he does it consistently and doesn’t get the love he deserves. Connor Hellebuyck is arguably the best goalie in the word who consistently wins the vezina trophy for the most part every year which goes to the leagues best goaltender. Mark Scheifele is another guy on this team who is a fun player to watch. Scheifele leads the Jets in scoring with 63 points on the season which places 9th overall. It’s wild to think he’s 9th in league scoring and was not good enough to make team Canada at the 2026 Olympics.

Josh Morrissey via the New York Times

The Lightning were dealt some pretty good news at Wednesdays skate with the return of Defenseman Ryan Mcdonagh who hasn’t played since December 22nd after sustaining a lower body injury.

The Lightning and Jets will be without the following players on Thursday:

Lightning

• Brayden Point (Lower Body)

• Victor Hedman (Elbow)

• Charle Edourard D’Astous (Lower Body)

Jets

• Neal Pionk (Lower Body)

The goalie matchups for Thursday night’s game should be a good one with Connor Hellebuyck getting the start for the Jets. Hellebuyck is 13-14 with a .902 save percentage and a 2.70 goals against average. Andrei Vasilevskiy should get the start against the Jets. Vasilevskiy is 23-7 with a .920 save percentage and a 2.07 goals against average. This will be two of the best goalies in the world going against each other.