Jets encouraged by play through first five games

Turkey. Stuffing. And a heaping helping of rest and recovery.

The Winnipeg Jets have plenty to be thankful for this holiday weekend, including a solid 3-1-1 start to the NHL campaign. Players and coaches are also counting their blessings at finally getting a breather after a busy stretch of five games in eight days.

“We don’t have another (break like this) until a week before Christmas. So we’re going to take advantage of it,” head coach Scott Arniel said following the club’s first regulation loss, a 5-1 stinker on Friday night against the visiting Anaheim Ducks.

To borrow a funny old Thanksgiving-related phrase from former defenceman Nate Schmidt, the hockey club was “leaking gravy.” They looked like a group that could use a timeout — which they’ll get since they don’t play again until hosting the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday night.

“It’s nice for sure. We’ve been going pretty hard,” defenceman Dylan DeMelo told the Free Press on Saturday following an off-ice workout for his group.

The Jets will stay away from the rink entirely on Sunday, then will hold a full team practice on Monday. There will also be a lengthy video session to go over the highs and lows so far this season.

“We played a lot of good hockey in that five-game stretch. So a lot of things to build off. But also a lot of things to clean up and get ready for a huge stretch of games here against good opponents,” said DeMelo.

Divisional play is always a key area and teams will play their seven closest rivals four times each this year under the new 84-game schedule. Winnipeg’s most impressive outing so far was their only Central clash, a 3-2 triumph on Wednesday over Colorado.

Four of Winnipeg’s next five games are within the division, with Minnesota, Chicago, St. Louis and Dallas all on deck.

“Teams that we know, teams that we’ve had a lot of hard battles against. We’re going to be have to be really good, be at our best in this stretch,” said DeMelo.

One area of concern would be secondary scoring, or a lack of thereof. The Jets have 13 goals this season, with Kyle Connor (six) and Cole Perfetti (three) accounting for most of them. DeMelo, Mario Ferraro, Adam Lowry and Alex Iafallo have one each, with the other 15 skaters who have suited up combining for a grand total of zero.

In terms of defensive play, the Jets were quite porous against the Ducks, who used their speed to create chaos.

“We hadn’t given up many rush goals against in the first four games, and then we got exploited (Friday) with it. That’s something to work on, some reminders for us,” said DeMelo.

“So it’s a good learning lesson, You’ve got to take the positives out of it because it is a long year. Things happens, we’re going to have games like that. We’re going to have better games, worse games. Take the positives and just continue to try and build that thing.”

There were plenty of question marks surrounding the Jets, especially with 10 different players in the opening night lineup compared to a year earlier, including plenty of inexperienced ones. Throw in the cloudy goaltending situation, with Connor Hellebuyck suspended for refusing to report to the team while he awaits a trade, and a 3-1-1 start is nothing to sneeze at.

“We would have taken that. If you can get off to a good start it’s important,” said DeMelo.

“That being said, it’s just a start. We still have a long way to go. But a very encouraging first five games, different contributions from everybody in the lineup. It’s been exciting. Definitely a good feeling in the room. Vibes have been really good. Just trying to keep that going. Keep working. We’ve got such a long way to go, and I think our game can continue to get better.”

The Jets are no strangers to strong starts. They won the first eight games of the 2024-25 season, and 14 of the first 15, to set an NHL record. There was no turning back that year, as the club went on to capture the Presidents’ Trophy.

Last year, Winnipeg got out of the gate by winning nine of the first 12 — but followed that up with a franchise-record 11 game winless streak which dug a hole they could never escape from.

Might either of those scenarios provide some valuable lessons this time around?

“We have a different group of guys. Some new blood in here, some new energy. Every year is different,” said DeMelo.

“There’s things you can maybe look back on and try to rectify and maybe avoid. But even then, this group is so different than it was last year. Whichever way it goes, it’s not going to be indicative of years previous. This year I feel like we’ve laid down a better foundation. A lot of good things we can lean on.”

In addition to getting some potential help from whatever the eventual Hellebuyck trade brings — some additional offence should be high on the wish list — the Jets are also counting on the quick return of top defenceman Josh Morrissey, who missed Friday’s game with an upper-body injury he suffered against the Avalanche.

Morrissey is considered day-to-day, which is yet another thing the Jets are thankful for.

“Absolutely. He’s a huge, huge part of this team. One of our best players, one of the best defencemen in the league. He affects our game in so many ways, and in the room as well being the leader that he is,” said DeMelo.

“So any time he’s out we feel bad and we try to fill that void the best we can collectively as a group, because he’s such a crucial part of this team. So we hope he’s back soon and we’ll keep holding the fort down until he comes back.”

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