The Winnipeg Jets Offense Looks Unstoppable, Finally

Thirteen minutes and thirty-eight seconds into the game against Chicago, the Winnipeg Jets led 3-0 and had not allowed a shot on goal. While the rest of the game wasn’t as dominant, Winnipeg showed they can pull away from teams in a hurry.

Well, we knew the Winnipeg Jets could pull away from teams in a hurry. They just kind of didn’t do it very often in the early going.

But now? They’re surging up the leaderboards. The Jets are now in sole possession of second place in their division, just one point behind the Nashville Predators, who have played one more game than the Jets.

The team is now fourth overall in points, and every team ahead of them has played that extra game. That week off in Helsinki is to thank for that. Honestly, with the way the team is playing now compared to then? I’m glad they had a light schedule.

The team is now first in the league in powerplay percentage, and it looks like they can score at will there. They just have so many weapons. They’re second to Colorado in goals scored in the West, and fifth overall.

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The Jets have 107 goals, which is fifth. The bottom team? The Kings, with 71. Tampa leads the league in goals with 130 (!!!!!). They’re unfair. I hope they slow down at some point because they’re running roughshod over the competition. The Jets offense looks unbeatable, but Tampa’s actually IS unbeatable.

The second closest is Toronto with 113. Seventeen goals behind Tampa. Yeesh. I’d say they’ll just blow it in the playoffs again, but I did a lot of that last year and look how it worked out for me.

Winnipeg has the best goal differential in the West, at +24, and that’s good for third overall, behind Toronto and Tampa (duh).

They’re 7-3 in their last ten games, and they have thirteen goals in their past two games. Seven times in their last 16 games the Jets have eclipsed the 5 goal mark, and five of those games were six or more.

Yes, they still need defensive help. But this is mostly the same roster that was a defensive juggernaut at times last season. We oversell the defensive issues because of the expectations behind this team, but they’re better off than most.

They’re a top 10 PK team, and coupling that with the league’s best powerplay is a great way to win games. Special teams is where those goals come from. If you’re good at stopping them and the best at scoring them, things are good.

Winnipeg actually gets to play Tampa next week (after getting to face Chicago again), so that’ll be a fun matchup that doesn’t mean a ton but people will think it does. I mean, if the Jets get blown out, 8-1, it’s not going to bode well. But hey, Tampa will do that to you.

Point is, we all expected the Winnipeg Jets to score a ton and be one of the best (if not the best) offensive team in the NHL. The Lightning are making sure that doesn’t happen. But that doesn’t matter. They’re not even in the West. Worry about them in the Finals if both teams happen to make it. Otherwise, worry about Nashville, Colorado, Minnesota and them.

But for now, Winnipeg looks like they’ll take over the division lead. It won’t be easy to hold, but the Jets can clearly outscore tons of people.