The Winnipeg Jets just keep rolling, and it seems that nothing can stop them yet. After losing their first game of the season on Oct. 28, the Jets have rattled off four straight wins and have moved to 12-1-0 on the year.
Since last week’s notebook, the Jets have played three games and as I alluded to, they won all of them. Their one loss seemed to kickstart some of the other parts of their game that weren’t completely present to start the year, and that should have all other teams worried.
It still feels somewhat surreal that the Jets have lost just one game this far into the season, but they just keep winning. Here’s what happened over the past week.
Wins Against Columbus, Tampa Bay, and Utah
The Jets took care of business when they needed to this week, especially when they went into Nationwide Arena and handled the Columbus Blue Jackets with ease. After bouncing back after their first loss, they continued to build off of that and played a truly dominant game that was punctuated by a Nikolaj Ehlers hat trick.
They followed up that effort by playing one of the most entertaining games of the season thus far, downing the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-4 in a wildly entertaining game that had just about everything you could see in a hockey game. This wasn’t just a big win in the sense that they found a way to endure a strong opposing attack, but was massive in the sense that they were able to do it against a very solid Lightning squad.
To cap it off they shut out the Utah Hockey Club 3-0 in their first-ever meeting to extend their new winning streak to four. Despite the win, Kyle Connor‘s 12-game point streak came to an end, but what a run it was. He was inches away from extending it late in the third but struck the post.
What’s also definitely worth noting is that Nino Niederreiter suited up for his 900th game against Utah, and provided two out of three goals in the game. His first of the game was highlight-reel material, stickhandling Utah goaltender Karel Vejmelka out of position before burying it to make it 2-0.
Dirty frickin' dangles boys đŽâđ¨ pic.twitter.com/0fEEBmaMdk
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) November 6, 2024
The most impressive thing about yet another strong week? All three of those wins were done in different ways. They dominated the Blue Jackets, were opportunistic in a chaotic game against the Lightning, and completely snuffed out any Utah attack. They’ve shown off every strength they have over the past several games, and they’ll need all of those on the upcoming schedule.
Power Play (Still) Leads the League
After potting another power-play goal against Utah, the Jets remained atop the NHL leaderboard with a 44.4% success rate on the man advantage. It continues to be one of the most impressive changes made to the team after an overhaul of the coaching staff, with assistant coach Davis Payne taking over the power play to start the season.
Last year, the Jets’ power play was truly awful at points, with it settling in at 18.8% which was good for 22nd in the league. It’s bound to regress slightly at some point, but I don’t think anyone it would be this much of a turnaround at the beginning of the season.
It has almost acted as a cheat code through 13 games, becoming a near guarantee that they will at least have a really good effort out there. The fact that it’s nearly at 50% a month into the season explains a lot about how the Jets have been as good as they are, and continue to stump teams on how to slow them down.
Hellebuyck Making Mark Among US-Born Goaltenders
After recording the shutout against Utah, Jets’ goaltender Connor Hellebuyck continued to chip away at the rankings among US-born goaltenders, moving into sole possession of sixth all-time with 39 shutouts and breaking a tie with Tom Barrasso.
He now sits just one back of being tied for fourth among American netminders, trailing John Vanbiesbrouck and Frank Brimsek who both have 40. The run Hellebuyck has been on, effectively dating back to the Jets playoff run in 2017-18 has been nothing short of historic. In that span, Hellebuyck has won two Vezina Trophies and a William M. Jennings Trophy, and has carried a great deal of the Jets’ success on his back.
Related: Connor Hellebuyck Calls for Clarity on Goaltender Interference Rules
In his career, Hellebuyck has a 284-174-41 record with a 0.917 Save Percentage. His 284 victories rank seventh among US-born netminders.
Up Next – Big Tests Against Central Division Rivals
The Jets face some serious tests coming up this week, playing the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars at home before heading to face the New York Rangers on the road. This stretch will go a long way to prove exactly how real the Jets’ strengths are, and a strong stretch of games against three good teams will do just that.
This is also the first time the Jets have faced the Avalanche since they lost in five games to them in the first round of the 2023-24 playoffs. The Avalanche are quite hurt at the moment but are always a tough out regardless of what their situation is.
