The Winnipeg Jets head on the road after a very successful homestand which ended with a 4-1 drubbing of the Dallas Stars on Nov. 9. Despite this, many critics still want more out of the top team in the NHL.
A 14-1-0 record to start the season is a new NHL record, but there are some who believe the competition hasn’t been challenging enough on the Jets. Well, this road trip is what those people have been waiting for.
The Jets left Winnipeg on Nov. 11 to begin a three-game trip to face the New York Rangers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Florida Panthers before returning home to play the Panthers again. If there was ever a “prove it” stretch, this is it.
Running the Eastern Gauntlet
The Jets, in order, are set to face a Stanley Cup favorite, a seemingly always competitive Lightning team, and the reigning Stanley Cup winners. There hasn’t been a challenge quite like this for the Jets this season, but if this season is evidence, they just find ways to win.
Most notably, their most impressive win is probably their most recent one against the Stars, but that will likely change if they have a successful trip to the Eastern Conference. Despite recording the best start to a season in NHL history, doubts remain as to how good this team actually is. Even if they take two out of three games on this trip, it goes a long way in terms of selling the success to the doubters.
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The Jets are playing fairly loose right now, any why wouldn’t they be? They just find ways to win games, and that helps a team’s confidence. Couple that with the actual successes of the power play and goaltending, the Jets become incredibly hard to put away if you’re the opponent.
They will need to have that killer instinct if they’re going to beat the Rangers, the Lightning for the second time in two weeks, and the Panthers. The funny thing is, however, that they’ve given fans a legitimate reason to be hopeful they can go in and beat all three of these teams even after winning 14 of 15 games to start the year. That’s how strong the belief is in this group, both on the ice and in the locker room.
How Can the Jets Keep the Streak Alive?
The Jets have an active six-game winning streak heading into this trip, and there are a few things that they need to do in order to keep their historical start rolling. They’ll need to play well enough at even strength, continue to click on the man advantage, and keep getting the saves.
That’s all fairly simple in practice, especially because two out of those three things are already strengths of the league-leading Jets. Looking deeper, it’s going to be a bit tougher for them to use those strengths to their advantage.
They’ll need players like Mark Scheifele, who leads the Jets in power-play points (PPP) with eight, and Josh Morrissey, who sits fourth in the league in PPP by a defenceman with seven to be their regular productive selves in order to make that difference. Morrissey also sits second in scoring by a defenceman with 16 points in 15 games, trailing just Cale Makar who leads all defenders with 24 points.
The power play, as good as it’s been, is now slated to face two out of the top five penalty kill units in the NHL. The Rangers lead the league with at 91.1%, while the Panthers sit fifth at 86.7%. The Lightning have struggled when on the kill this season, sitting 25th at 75%.
The Rangers also have the Jets matched in the goaltending department, with both teams sitting at a 0.931 team Save Percentage (SV%) to start the season thanks to Igor Shesterkin and Jonathan Quick. Connor Hellebuyck has been on another level to start the season for the Jets, already looking primed to challenge for another Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender.
The Lightning and Panthers haven’t necessarily gotten the best out of their goaltenders yet, with the two teams holding a 0.901 and 0.897 SV% respectively.
It’s likely going to come down to being opportunistic and finding another gear at even strength to keep the pages turning in the history books. That being said, it’s getting difficult to bet against this Jets team because the second it seems like they’re down and out, they find a way to pull off a win.
This is Just the Beginning of a Tough Stretch
In addition to the three-game trip and the home-and-home against the Panthers, the Jets play the Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota Wild, Vegas Golden Knights, and the Stars in four of the six games that follow. So, it really doesn’t get any easier for them in the coming weeks.
The pressure can’t be that high on the Jets, however, because it’s clear that feel confident in how they’re playing and they’re already banking a lot of points for down the line. Even if they regress slightly, they’re already on pace to be well above the playoff cut line. For a team that many saw taking a step back this season, they just keep winning and making it easier on themselves down the stretch.
