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This article was published 10/11/2014 (3134 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MONTREAL — The Winnipeg Jets are one game from matching a franchise record for consecutive games with at least a point.

If they can get something out of Tuesday night’s affair at Bell Centre against the Montreal Canadiens (6:30 p.m. CT, TSN3, TSN1290), it will equal the 2005-06 Atlanta Thrashers 6-0-3 streak.

Winnipeg is currently 6-0-2 in its last eight games, coming off Saturday night’s 2-1 shootout win in Ottawa.

“Sure, anytime you can pass a franchise record, you’re doing something right,” Jets centre Jim Slater said after the team’s practice today at Bell Centre. Slater was an NHL rookie on the Thrashers team that set the bar at nine games.

“I do remember that stretch, we had a lot of good players on that team, a lot of old players and just remembering back in those days, we prepared the right way for these games,” Slater said. “We never got too high during that win streak. We just went out there and played the same we in each game.

“I see similarities on this team. We’re preparing the right way each game. We’re having fun but we’re not getting too high. We know we have to play the same way every night if we want to give ourselves a good chance of winning.

“That’s what it feels like in here right now. We’re not surprised by it, by any means. It’s actually the opposite. It feels like this is where we should be.”

There are similarities in the feeling, but there are also differences in the streaks’ styles.

These Jets have been very responsible defensively. The have given up just 10 goals in their eight games, while scoring just 14. And five of the eight games in their current streak have been on the road.

In 2005, the Thrashers gave up 24 total goals in their nine games, while scoring 34, and they played only two road games during their streak.

The historical context of the team’s current streak has kind of snuck up on them.

“I think every player in here, just ask them, if we were going to match a franchise record, I didn’t even know that,” Slater said today. “We’re just going out there and playing right now, collecting points.

The 2005 streak was accomplished under coach Bob Hartley.

“For this franchise, having Paul (Maurice) here is like Bob,” Slater said. “Bob was a coach that won the Stanley Cup, he had a lot of experience, he demanded you bring it all nights and you can see that Paul’s the exact same way. It’s just experience, he knows what to say at the right time to get us prepared. That’s a big thing, having an experienced coach, especially with this team being so young.”

The history showed that the 2005-06 Thrashers had ability. When their nine-game streak ended with a loss in Buffalo, they went on another tear right away, winning seven of the next eight. But a seven-game outright losing streak followed. The inconsistencies left the team with 90 points that season, missing the playoffs by two points.

tim.campbell@freepress.mb.ca