Tightening rivets key for Jets to flourish Inconsistency has plagued the club over season-opening stretch By: Ken Wiebe Posted: 5:45 PM CDT Monday, Oct. 27, 2025

MINNEAPOLIS — In a sport where timing is everything, Scott Arniel wasn’t about to let this opportunity pass him by.

No, this wasn’t necessarily just about a homestand that included a 1-2 record, with losses to the Seattle Kraken and the Utah Mammoth.

This wasn’t about a mediocre 3-3 home record out of the gate that makes the Jets 3-0 road record all the more impressive.

This wasn’t about a pair of tightly-contested wins during the past week over a Calgary Flames team that is having an incredibly tough time scoring goals either.

It’s the inconsistency that has plagued the Jets during the entirety of the nine-game block that had Arniel in a lather after the Jets dropped a 3-2 decision to the Mammoth on Sunday.

The Jets are a veteran team, one with a core group that knows how to play winning hockey and is committed to doing the little things that are required to take the next step.

As Arniel pointed out on Sunday, mistakes are going to happen over the course of a game — it’s the self-inflicted ones that need to be minimized. Like the Jets getting mesmerized by the puck in the corner in the defensive zone, allowing Dylan Guenther to make his way to the high slot to rip home the game-winner with 5:36 to go in regulation time.

The Jets are a details-oriented team and this type of breakdown was completely avoidable.

It’s not just that Guenther was left uncovered, even though there was a D-man in the vicinity of him.

If Guenther’s stick is not tied up in this scenario, he remains one of the most dangerous players on the ice and he made the Jets pay for leaving him open.

On the second goal for the Mammoth, the Jets’ failure to get the puck in deep at the offensive blue line allowed an odd-man rush the other way.

The Jets were well aware of how potent the Mammoth can be off the rush and still allowed Kailer Yamamoto to find Michael Carcone for a one-timer.

The other marker for the Mammoth came on the power play, after Nick Schmaltz won the draw cleanly in the offensive zone and the Jets were late in getting into the shooting lane before Mikhail Sergachev beat Connor Hellebuyck.

This is just a snapshot of the most recent game but, if you zoom out a bit, there are some themes emerging.

The inability to put together three strong periods has caught the attention of both Arniel and the players.

Ebbs and flows within a game are normal, but not putting in the work required to play this taxing system isn’t something Arniel is going to stand for.

Neither are the players, who know that putting in a 60-minute effort is mandatory — and not up for debate.

“The goal would be a full 60 minutes of domination.”

“The reality is that’s the goal every single night,” said Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey. “Some nights it’s not going to go your way. But, (what) we have done a good job this year is finding ways to win hockey games.

“Whether that’s late in the third or whenever that is, we found ways to stick with it and get those crucial points. (Sunday), we weren’t able to do that, but definitely, to answer your question, the goal would be a full 60 minutes of domination.”

Arniel was measured in his post-game comments, but he wasn’t about to idly stand by.

This was similar to the way Arniel spoke publicly after a disappointing 5-2 loss to Utah last season, when his frustration was also evident.

While each year is different, it’s worth noting that the Jets put together an 11-game winning streak after that public dressing down on Jan. 20.

The Jets have spoken openly about how they want to be pushed and coached like an elite team, so this is an opportunity to respond accordingly.

A Central Division battle with the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night couldn’t come at a better time, as both teams figure to be more than a bit surly.

While the Jets’ focus is on themselves, the Wild have endured a disappointing start to the campaign that includes just three wins in the first 10 games (and a record of 3-5-2).

Minnesota has dropped consecutive games to open a pivotal six-game homestand and the urgency level for the Wild will be high, so the Jets can’t afford another lengthy lull that stretches close to a full period.

If the Jets can find the win column on Tuesday, they would finish the 10-game block with seven wins and 14 points. That would be an impressive total, especially when you consider the three key injuries the Jets have been dealing with.

One of the Jets’ superpowers during the past several seasons is their ability to get to their structure quicker than most — if not all — teams.

Although there are stretches when that’s still been the case, the Jets are giving up more quality scoring chances than they would like.

While the integration of seven new forwards into the equation has surely contributed to that, steps forward need to be taken sooner than later.

It won’t be long before the small sample size things transform to emerging trends.

And when that time comes, the Jets want those to include some of things that have become second nature to them.

“It’s going to be one of those situations that doesn’t get any better unless we start to do it on a consistent basis.”

“Keep hammering it home,” Arniel said, when asked how the issues can get cleaned up. “There’s a lot of ways that you can look at it. I know it’s our puck management. It’s getting on the right side of people 200 feet from your net. It’s not pinching when we don’t have an F3, it’s not having three guys behind the goal line, it’s D-zone, getting on the wrong side of people and them beating us to the net front.

“It’s stuff that we’ve been showing and we’ve been talking about it. And it’s going to be one of those situations that doesn’t get any better unless we start to do it on a consistent basis each and every period.”

An erosion of the standard that has been built simply can’t occur and that’s why Arniel felt it was time to share his feelings.

Now it’s time to see how the Jets respond to the challenge put forth by their head coach.

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld