The Winnipeg Jets (18-22-5) earned one of their strongest wins of the season on Tuesday, Jan. 13, holding on against the New York Islanders (25-16-5). The game was neck and neck the entire time, so much so that despite the Jets scoring four goals in the second, they were only up 5-3.
In the third, it looked like the Islanders would pull out another win, with Matthew Schaefer scoring a goal with 46 seconds left, but Vladislav Namestnikov blocked the last shot to give the Jets the win.
Jets center Adam Lowry (one goal, one assist) and defenseman Dylan DeMelo (one goal) earned the first two stars, but Islanders winger Emil Heineman (one goal, one assist) earned the third star for his penalty shot goal in the second. 2025 Hart Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck was mortal in this game, stopping just 23 of 27 shots, but Ilya Sorokin performed worse, saving just 17 of 22.
The Jets are still at the bottom of the Central Division with 41 points, but they are still in a decent lottery position without being the worst team in the NHL (Vancouver Canucks have 37). They are now on a three-game winning streak, and that will no doubt be tested on the road against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday, Jan. 15.
Connor Hellebuyck Needs to Get Off the Schneid
It’s fair to say that Hellebuyck is the Jets’ best player right now. Some could even say that he’s the best the Jets have ever had (every iteration). After they moved out of Atlanta, they struggled to make any noise, making just one playoff series in their first six seasons of existence.
Then, when Hellebuyck became the full-time starter in 2017-18, the team took off, making it to the Western Conference Final in 2018 and even winning the Presidents’ Trophy in 2025.
This season, and especially as of late, it appears Hellebuyck hasn’t reached his Vezina Trophy-winning form. He has a .899 save percentage (SV%), and in the past 10 games, he has a .863 SV%.
He got away with a poor outing in this one, but in the past 10 games, the Jets are 2-5-3. Safe to say, Hellebuyck playing well has a correlation with the Jets thriving, and him not playing well correlates with the Jets struggling.
Jets Shook Off the Fragile Label
Through the Jets’ 11-game losing streak, they looked helpless. Whether that was due to a blown lead, such as against the Ottawa Senators on Dec. 15, or losing in overtime, like the game against the Utah Mammoth on Dec. 21, the losses kept sinking their confidence. Even their head coach Scott Arniel was calling the team fragile.
“Right now we’re a delicate, fragile group,” said Arniel after Winnipeg’s loss to the Colorado Avalanche. “And we’re finding ways to lose games. We’ve got to somehow (make) that next play that ties that game or gets us in the lead early on.”
However, the Jets are now on a three-game winning streak, and this win in particular showed they are shaking off that label. In the second period at 6:23, after a Jonathan Toews power-play goal, they had a 3-0 lead. However, not even four minutes later, the New York Islanders came all the way back, tying it up 3-3 at 10:21.
Still, the Jets didn’t back down, scoring two more goals in the second. They almost blew it again in the third, with Schaefer scoring a goal in the final minute, but Vladislav Namestnikov blocked the Islanders’ final shot at 19:56, and the Jets hung on to win.
“At the end of the day, we got back to what we had to do,” Arniel said. “Obviously, that was a big goal at the end (of the second) for us as we had traffic again, a shot from the top, and those are the things you want to continue to do, and we did it.”
Safe to say, the Jets have finally proven that the losing streak and the constant blown leads are not in their heads anymore.
Jonathan Toews Is on a Heater
When the Jets signed Jonathan Toews to a one-year, $2 million deal to end his two-year hiatus from the NHL, fans were perplexed. A homecoming is nice, but the deal also included up to $5 million in incentives, and although most of them are related to if the Jets make the playoffs, Toews gets $550,000 for every 10 games he plays past 20 games. Since he’s at 45 games right now, he’s guaranteed an extra $1.65 million in incentives, nearly doubling his contract.
Unfortunately, the 35-year-old center has rarely shown his prime form. He has just six goals and 10 assists in 45 games, and his contract has been a big financial burden on the Jets.
Related: Jonathan Toews’ Return Has Become a Costly Miscalculation for the Winnipeg Jets
However, he’s been turning back the clock lately. He has seven points in the past 10 games, including three straight goals in the three-game winning streak Winnipeg has been on. His goal on the power play was fantastic. Toews got in position to finish a shot by Gabriel Vilardi from the point, and he cashed in right behind Sorokin.
If Toews can keep scoring at this rate, it will round out the Jets’ depth nicely. They have just four players with 20 or more points on the roster (Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Gabriel Vilardi, Josh Morrissey), so players like Toews regaining their form is crucial for the Jets to continue this winning streak.
Schedule
The Jets go on the road for the first time since Jan. 3, traveling to Minnesota to play the Wild on Thursday, Jan. 15. However, they return home shortly after that, facing the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday, Jan. 17.
