SALT LAKE CITY - For the first time in 2025, the Winnipeg Jets have hit the road.
Following a season-long eight-game home stand that saw the Jets (31-13-3) post a 4-2-2 record, the team begins a short two-game road trip with their first visit to Utah.
But Salt Lake City isn’t new to everyone on the Jets organization.
Assistant coach Dean Chynoweth played five games for the Salt Lake Golden Eagles of the International Hockey League in 1993-94 before working as Utah Grizzlies assistant general manager and assistant coach from 1998-2000.
Vladislav Namestnikov – who returns to the Jets line-up tonight after missing four games due to injury – can remember skating in this very city when he was around five-years-old. That was during the time that his father, Evgeny, played for the Utah Grizzlies in 1997-98.
Just a couple seasons earlier, Jets head coach Scott Arniel played for the Grizzlies for 14 games in the IHL. That year, he had Kevin Cheveldayoff as an assistant coach and vice president of hockey operations.
“When I played here, the dressing rooms were on the other side. It’s kind of cool being back,” Arniel said after the morning skate at Delta Center. “Getting into the city yesterday, seeing the sights, I haven’t been here since then. It was pretty cool. It’s a different venue for us. First time coming in here for everybody, so we’ll get a feel for how the boards work, glass works, and hopefully we can get up and running when the game starts.”
As for Namestnikov, he’s happy to be back in the line-up with his teammates. He was one of the many skaters dealing with bumps and bruises before he blocked a shot against the Los Angeles Kings on January 10.
But that shot block was the one that forced the durable forward out of the line-up.
“You never want to be out of the line-up. I really missed it,” said Namestnikov, who will be skating between Nino Niederreiter and Cole Perfetti.
“We’ve played a bit together with Nino and a lot with (Perfetti),” Namestnikov said. “We know each other very well and we just have to read off each other, help each other out, and play a simple game to begin with.”
For his part, Perfetti is looking forward to continuing to build his chemistry with Niederreiter. With Rasmus Kupari between the two, Winnipeg has had a 7-2 advantage in high-danger chances at five-on-five (according to Natural Stat Trick), and over 53 percent of the shot attempts.
“Playing with Nino is a lot of fun. We complement each other in different ways. He brings something I don’t bring, and I think it goes vice versa,” said Perfetti. “Vladdy I’ve played a lot with so I’m comfortable playing with him. I’m excited for tonight. I think we can do a lot of damage together as a line.”
The full line rushes looked like this, with Connor Hellebuyck expected to start in goal:
Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
Ehlers-Lowry-Iafallo
Niederreiter-Namestnikov-Perfetti
Gustafsson-Kupari-Barron
Morrissey-DeMelo
Samberg-Pionk
Stanley-Miller
As for Utah (19-19-7), they’re in a similar position as Winnipeg was a couple days ago when it comes to the schedule. The Jets capped off an eight-game home stand with the 3-1 loss to Calgary on Saturday. Utah will be closing out a seven-game run at home tonight.
In their last outing, they scored three goals in the first period to earn a 4-2 win over St. Louis on Saturday, moving Utah six points back of Calgary for the final wildcard spot in the Western Conference.
“This is a Central Division match-up and they’re right in the mix of things,” said Arniel. “They make us work for everything. They’re playing well. It’s a situation where we have to make them defend. Their top six has a lot of speed and skill, then they have the third line that is a big, heavy line.”
Utah will be without defenceman Mikhail Sergachev (who leads the team in average ice time at 25:45) and leading goal-scorer Dylan Guenther tonight. As always, the Jets aren’t so much focused on what Utah is doing. They have their sights set on playing the brand of hockey that has them in top spot in the ever-competitive Central Division.
There are some things the Jets would like to clean up from their loss to the Flames, but overall, Perfetti said the team liked a lot of what they did – outside of the final score.
“I think we doubled them up on shots, we played well,” said Perfetti. “There are a few things that could’ve been a little bit better and hopefully we do that tonight.”
Puck drop is set for 8:30 pm CT.
-- Mitchell Clinton, WinnipegJets.com