Arniel finds positives in Jets’ season-opening OT loss to Bruins, eyes improvement

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“Tough way to lose it,” he said. “But for our first game, there was a lot of good stuff.”

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Winnipeg (0-1-0) opened the scoring with a goal from defenceman Dylan DeMelo, but Boston (2-0-0) answered with markers from Hampus Lindholm and James Hagens to carry a 2-1 lead into the second period.

Kyle Connor evened the score just 1:50 into the second frame, extending his NHL record for most consecutive season openers with a goal to nine straight.

“Oh, geez. Just a long off-season, excited to be back, I don’t know,” Connor said. “I wish I could keep that going, bottle it up.”

Mario Ferraro, another Jets blueliner, restored Winnipeg’s lead with eight seconds left in the second frame, picking the top-right corner on Bruins goalie Jeremy Swayman.

For a team searching for secondary scoring, Arniel said two goals from the backend was an encouraging sign.

“That’s big,” Arniel said. “When your D can be a part of it, it puts some pressure on the opposition. You saw, with Boston, how hard their D were coming, too. That’s what this NHL is. You’ve got to be mobile and you’ve got to get up in that rush.”

Stuart Skinner turned aside 26 saves in his Jets debut, while Swayman countered with 30 stops for the victory.

Skinner played particularly well in the third period as the Bruins pressed for the equalizer. He conceded a soft goal earlier in the game when Hagens’ slap shot from the point beat him clean on the glove side.

Still, the home crowd gave him a warm welcome, cheering him on with chants of “Stuu” even on routine stops.

“Normally, when I just stop a puck behind the net, I don’t get a ton of ‘Stu’s,'” Skinner said. “That honestly just shows how much love is in the building tonight and how much the fans are there for us.”

The loudest ovation on the night belonged to rookie defenceman Tyrel Bauer. Making his NHL debut, Bauer dropped the gloves with Boston’s Mark Kastelic in the first period, landing a number of decisive blows that left Kastelic’s jersey stained with blood.

“He’s a phenomenal teammate,” Connor said. “Having that type of guy on your team, if anybody takes liberties on anybody, any type of player, he’s the first guy jumping in. And I thought he looked good, too, made a couple of great breakout passes. And that stuff definitely goes noticed by the team and we appreciate it, it goes a long way.”

Fellow rookie Viggo Bjorck was also playing his first NHL game. The 18-year-old, selected eighth overall in June, looked composed logging 15:42 of ice time, including time on the power play and penalty kill.

“We got 83 to go. We got five-in-eight-days here, so it’s just build off this,” Arniel said. “It was a real quick hockey game, and it’s hard to duplicate that in practice. But it was good that they got to go through that.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2026.

Jeff Hamilton, The Canadian Press