Jets scoring at an electrifying pace

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This article was published 04/11/2024 (336 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The numbers themselves are downright ridiculous.

That the Winnipeg Jets lead the NHL in goals scored through 12 games is one of several revelations that have led to an incredibly impressive 11-1 start to the 2024-25 season.

Now, this isn’t a knock against the talent or skill level of the team.

With a roster that closely resembles the one that finished 15th in the same category last season (3.16 goals per game), it’s worth examining where the biggest gains are coming from thus far for a team averaging 4.92 goals per game.

Scoring depth was one of the calling cards for the Jets last season, with 11 forwards finishing the campaign in double digits (including Sean Monahan, who chipped in 13 goals in his 34 games after the trade with the Montreal Canadiens).

Josh Morrisssey also scored 10 times, bringing the total number of players in double digits to 12 (13 if you include Tyler Toffoli, though only seven of his 33 goals came in Winnipeg).

The Jets are still scoring by committee, though there have been gains made by the top two scoring lines this season — with Kyle Connor already at nine goals, Nikolaj Ehlers at eight and Mark Scheifele at seven.

Seven of the 13 forwards to suit up in at least one game have scored at least four goals, with 11 of them scoring at least once.

The fourth line production hasn’t been as prevalent to date, with just one goal generated at five-on-five by the trio of Rasmus Kupari, Morgan Barron and Alex Iafallo, who chipped in his first of the season on the power play on Sunday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Special teams has been an obvious area of improvement, with the Jets continuing to lead the NHL in power-play efficiency (44.1 per cent).

Moving from the bottom third of the league in that category to the top of the mountain has aided the increase in production, there’s no doubt about that.

The fact the Jets are getting goals from both power-play units enhances those gains.

Offence from the defensive corps has also contributed, with Morrissey (two goals, 15 points) and Neal Pionk (three goals, 13 points) leading the way on that front.

The Jets have an unusually high number of goals coming at six-on-five in the early going, with five goals already recorded in that circumstance.

They’ve scored twice on delayed-penalty calls, once at the end of the first period when they pulled the goalie with just under three seconds remaining against the Minnesota Wild and another two times late in a game with the goalie pulled in favour of an extra attacker — forcing overtime against the Chicago Blackhawks and cutting the Toronto Maple Leafs lead to 5-4 before giving up an empty-netter.

The Jets are 3-0 in overtime this season, scoring once at three-on-three, once during a four-on-three power play and another time on a four-on-three situation with a delayed-penalty call coming and the goalie on the bench in favour of an extra attacker.

Since overtime reverts to five-on-five play when the Stanley Cup playoffs arrive, it’s important to take those totals at face value and not inflate the stock placed in them.

Still, you can’t ignore the league-best plus-29 goal-differential (59 goals for, 30 goals against) the Jets are carrying into Tuesday’s game against Utah HC.

Through nine games, the Jets had actually been outscored 19-17 (minus-2) at five-on-five, but they’ve swung the pendulum back considerably in their favour during the past three games — moving to 31-23 (plus-8), marking a 10-goal improvement.

The Jets were one of the best teams in the league at five-on-five goal differential and they’re determined to do that again.

“I can see it every single day. With how hard they work and how skilled and talented they are and the chemistry they’re building from line to line to line,” said Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck. “Being able to do it at both ends of the rink is not easy, it’s hard work. Winning is hard work. You can tell the guys have really bought into it and I’m really excited for them.”

Perhaps the most important part of the additional offence is it hasn’t come at the expense of scribbling outside the lines and breaking away from the structure.

The Jets remain fully committed to playing defence first and they entered Monday’s action fifth in goals against per game (2.50), just behind the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild (tied for third at 2.46) and not far behind the New York Rangers (2.18), who sit first.

The belief in the system has been reinforced by the results, with the lone blemish this season being a 6-4 loss to the Maple Leafs.

“Yeah, I think the guys have really bought into the fact that we’re going to start from our end first and go from there,” said Jets assistant coach Marty Johnston. “We’re getting good production from our back end as well in terms of getting pucks through and pucks in the net and we’ll continue to focus on that, making sure that it’s a five-man offensive system. Again, we’ve done a good job of finding those loose-puck rebounds as well.”

It’s natural to wonder if this offensive surge is sustainable?

A look into some of the underlying numbers suggests while the Jets are benefitting from a higher shooting average (15.2 per cent compared to the league average of 10.9 per cent), there isn’t necessarily going to be a sizable regression when you look at the quality opportunities that are being generated by the Jets.

According to NHL Edge, 89 of the 388 shots on goal this season fall into the high-danger category — which is equal to the league average — and the shooting percentage on those scoring chances is 2.3 per cent higher than the league average.

“Yeah, I think that we’re trying to make sure that we get to the areas of the ice that are impactful in terms of denying opportunities, but also getting opportunities on those second chances that we really try to have a focus on,” said Johnston. “We’ve done a good job of getting to that area and I think it’s going to be something that we focus on for the entire season. As much as we’re happy with what we’re doing, we have to keep doing it.”

ANOTHER STEP CLOSER: Although there is still no timetable for their respective returns to game action, defenceman Ville Heinola (ankle) and forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan skated with the team in non-contact jerseys on Monday, marking another step in their progression. The next step after that would be to shed the non-contact jersey after getting medical clearance.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X: @WiebesWorld