The Winnipeg Jets scored 259 goals in their 52-win 2023-24 season. Some were nice, some were weak, some were garbage, some were workmanlike, and some were incredible.
Most of the goals the Jets scored this season will ultimately be forgotten or already have been — no one remembers a goal scored on the rebound or that went in off someone’s butt, unless it was a playoff game winner — but these five won’t soon be forgotten.
5: Monahan Completes Tic-Tac-Toe Passing Play Against Canucks for First as a Jet — Feb. 17, 2024
There’s just something so satisfying about a precise tic-tac-toe passing play, and this one between Mark Scheifele, Gabriel Vilardi, and Sean Monahan is the example par excellence of this Jets’ season.
The fact it came in a marquee Saturday-night matchup between two of the NHL’s best teams, that it was the Jets’ second power-play goal marker of the period after suffering through a zero-for-21 stretch on the man advantage, and that it was Monahan’s first since being acquired from the Montreal Canadiens earlier in the month, gives it the number-five spot on our list.
4: Connor Undresses Carrier, Outwaits Saros for Beautiful Backhand Goal — Nov. 9, 2023
The majority of Kyle Connor’s goals are more typical “goal scorer’s goals” that come as the result of a well-placed shot from a high-danger area or to finish off a passing play. However, he’s obviously also capable of some dirty dangles, as this goal shows.
Connor scored the fifth hat-trick of his career and had four points in this 6-3 win against the Predators, and this tally was his nicest of the night by far. Taking a pass from Scheifele, he powered into the offensive zone, cut behind Alexandre Carrier on the backhand, and slipped the puck under the pad of a sprawling Juuse Saros.
“Turned it over, and I had a ton of speed coming down that left wing. Mark made a great pass to me and kind of sprung me,” Connor said post game of the goal. “I kind of saw, I think it was (Roman) Josi over-committed, maybe thought I was going to shoot the puck, and I just took that ice on the other side and wasn’t really able to get a good backhand shot off right away, so figured I’d out-wait him.” (From ‘Connor fills his hat against Predators,’ Winnipeg Free Press, Nov. 9, 2023.)
3: Vilardi Embarrasses Ingram With Quick Hands in Tight — Feb. 25, 2024
Vilardi put his exceptional net-front skills and ability to “stick handle in a phone booth” — as captain Adam Lowry put it — on display with regularity this season. (From ‘Up close: an in-depth look at Gabe Vilardi’s goalscoring exploits,’ Winnipeg Free Press, April 5, 2024.) Nearly every one of his 22 tallies, as his shot chart shows, came from directly in front of the net. Scoring from more than a foot or two away is not his style.
The Jets’ power play wasn’t that good this season at 19.07 per cent for 22nd in the NHL. However, it was a lot more dangerous when Vilardi, who missed 35 games with various injuries and an enlarged spleen this season, was parked in front of the blue paint.
On this instance, while on the man advantage late in the first period against the Arizona Coyotes, Vilardi was parked in his “office” and took a pass from Scheifele. With dazzling quickness, he pulled the puck from backhand to forehand, and Coyotes goaltender Connor Ingram committed to the forehand shot he thought was coming.
However, Vilardi shiftily pulled the puck back to his backhand and deposited it into the now-gaping side as Ingram tried in vain to get back in position by stretching out his pad. It was Vilardi’s second power-play point of the period, and the Jets went on to win 4-3 in overtime.
2: Ehlers Dances Through Everybody for “Nasty” End-to-End Goal Versus Panthers — Nov. 24, 2023
Nikolaj Ehlers, an ever-dynamic talent with explosive speed, went coast to coast for highlight reel goals a few different times this season, including against the Chicago Blackhawks in January and against the New Jersey Devils in March.
Those goals were beauties to be sure, but his first end-to-end effort of the campaign, in November against the Florida Panthers, was the nicest.
With the Jets up 1-0 in the third period, in Rick Bowness’ return to behind the bench after a leave of absence to be with his wife Judy, Ehlers simply decided it was time for an insurance goal.
Taking a one-touch pass from Cole Perfetti at their own blue line, Ehlers pulled the puck from behind himself and displayed serious giddy-up through the neutral zone. Entering the offensive zone, he put the puck behind defender Uvis Balinskis while going around him the other way before snapping the puck top-corner over Sergei Bobrovsky’s blocker side.
“Oh, filthy,” was how goaltender Connor Hellebuyck described the goal postgame. “Beautiful hands, beautiful feet. I mean, what more can you say about the guy. He’s just nasty all around.” (from ‘Hellebuyck backstops Jets to 3-0 victory,’ Winnipeg Free Press, Nov. 24, 2023.)
1: Vilardi Goes Between the Legs for Ridiculous Top-Shelf Power Play Goal — April 9, 2024
Yes, it’s another ridiculous net-front power-play goal from Vilardi that takes our top spot. These types of goal were exactly what the organization was hoping to get from the key piece from the Los Angeles Kings in the return for Pierre-Luc Dubois.
How can you not give an in-between-the-legs, top-corner goal in a crucial divisional matchup — the Predators were closing in on the Jets at the time for a top-three spot in the Central — its props? How can a written description give such a stunner justice? A video, in this case, is worth a thousand words. Just watch it and enjoy it, then watch it and enjoy it again.
“It’s almost magical,” TSN colour analyst Kevin Sawyer said. “He does this often. Teams know it. They pre-scout it. But they can’t stop it.”
