Coming into the NHL season, hockey fans would be hard pressed to find an expert prediction placing the Winnipeg Jets in the playoffs. Maybe they’d be predicted as a second wild card here and there, but the expectations were low. The Jets are by no means running away with the division with a hot start, but they do sit in second place with a 5-3-2 record after beating the two-time defending champs 7-1 at home. It’s becoming apparent that the Jets are playoff contenders, at least here in the early stages of the season.
Winnipeg played three games in the span of four days last weekend and went 1-0-2. At first glance, it wasn’t a particularly great or remarkable stretch, but when you dive deeper, there were moments and details that show just how good the Jets can be. The first plus was the goalie play. Connor Hellebuyck started the Thursday and Sunday games against Pittsburgh, while Mason played the Friday game in Columbus against the Blue Jackets. They gave up a total of only four goals in 11 periods, losing 2-1 in overtime in back to back games before the 7-1 win. Goalie play has plagued the Jets since coming to Winnipeg from Atlanta and is starting to look decent for the first time. Connor Hellebuyck is fifth in the league in both goals allowed average and save percentage and the Jets are 5-0-1 in games he starts. He is coming out of the gates looking like an elite goalie and could be the key to a Winnipeg playoff run.
The second plus is the resiliency the Jets showed having to play back to back road games against Pittsburgh and Columbus and coming away with two points. Obviously they would have liked to pull those wins out, but taking two elite teams to OT on their home ice is a fantastic feat for a young team looking for some confidence to build on. It’s even more impressive that when they hosted the same team they barely lost to on Thursday only three days later, they clobbered them. The Penguins are arguably the leading favorite to win the Stanley cup against this year, but the Jets explosiveness and toughness definitely proved that they are among the teams right on the Penguins’ heels
The final plus to takeaway from the weekend was the offensive firepower especially from Sunday’s game. Winnipeg put up five goals in the first period, including a hat trick from Blake Wheeler in the span of four minutes and 20 seconds, a franchise record. Those brought Wheeler, usually a prolific scorer to only four goals this season. Many of the Jets star forwards have been a little slow in the start of the season, with Wheeler’s 12 points being the most placing him tied for 18th in the league. Nikolaj Ehlers has six goals this season putting him tied for 17th, while young phenom Patrick Laine is off to a bit of a sophomore slump with only six points. The star power is still there, though, and if they can pick it up like they did in Sunday’s 7-1 demolition, the Jets might finally be in position to put it all together.