The best part of struggling in the beginning of the season? Things can change in a hurry. The Winnipeg Jets have jumped toward the middle (yes, an improvement) in goals per game in just a week.
The Winnipeg Jets can take all of those stats that look just a bit unsightly and turn them around quickly. They’re now fifth in goals allowed, on the good end.
Their goal differential is up in the top ten in the league, at this point. What’s even better? They’re fifth in team save percentage, at .922%. Connor Hellebuyck finally had back-to-back strong starts.
And three of four for the American Hero. A nice stretch from him can really go a long way. If he does it while the skaters are doing what they’ve been doing? That would be one hell of a run.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Yes, the Jets just thoroughly dismantled the Devils. But at this point, the only team that can’t dismantle the Devils is probably Ottawa. NJ is, uh, bad.
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But the Jets have played lots of bad teams this year, the NHL is chock full of em. This was the best they looked this year. Nikolaj Ehlers struggled mightily to produce in the early going, but now has a three game goal streak.
Blake Wheeler. I know, I voiced concern about his even strength scoring. Well, coming off a five point game, he came through with two more assists. Five even strength points in his last two games.
He’s tied for the league lead in assists, with 20 now, and fourth in the NHL with 23 points. Good stuff from the captain.
Mark Scheifele had two goals and an assist, and now he’s at nine and ten, respectively. Kyle Connor is still providing steady production. It’s looking good. Jack Roslovic lit the lamp for the first time this season.
And it was a beauty, a nice wrister in motion against Corey Schneider. Glad to see him get on the board. Look, I know it’s the Devils, and they’re in a freefall. But everyone gets to play them.
These points all count at the end. It’s just the two points the Winnipeg Jets can earn each game that really concerns me. Well, I lied. I love stats. They’re fun. And they’re extra fun when your boys are high on the stat leaderboards.
But wins are the real challenge, here. It’s hard to get wins without scoring too many points. And a team like Winnipeg should dismantle the Devils. It’s good to see they did.
They still lead the league in penalty minutes. And they’re spreading it pretty well. Five players with 20 PIM (Brendan Lemieux, Tyler Myers, Mark Scheifele, Josh Morrissey and Dustin Byfuglien) and one more with 19, Blake Wheeler.
What can you do? Continue to improve. They took five more penalties against New Jersey, in a game where they had no reason to be undisciplined. In a game full of great signs, this was the one negative.
They were in control from the opening puck drop until the horn went off at the end of the third. It was complete domination, and a reminder of how fun the Jets were last season. More of this, please?