Next day takeaways: 3 Thoughts as the Winnipeg Jets stay undefeated to begin 2024-25

The Winnipeg Jets hit the road for a three-game trip away from home, putting their undefeated record to the test. On Tuesday night against a central division rival in the St. Louis Blues, the Jets came away with a 3-2 win and improved to 6-0-0 on the season. 

They remain the lone undefeated team in the NHL, as they find themselves winning in more ways than one.

Cole Perfetti’s excellent performance at both ends of rink

After a slow three-game start to the season for Cole Perfetti and his linemates, they have dominated the past three, as Perfetti added three assists and is now up to seven points (2G, 5A) on the season. That line has re-gained the confidence they had failed to gain through camp and have matched their poor start with a strong three-game run.

“It definitely feels good,” Perfetti said after the game on Tuesday night. “It’s good for the confidence of the line, and I think we’re feeling it the last couple of games here. A lot of it’s coming from our good D-zone (play). I think we’re taking care of things in our end of the ice and really trying to dial that in. We were getting chances the first couple of games, not as many as we were like, but now we’re really starting to get more and more, and the puck is starting to go in the net.”

While the offensive explosion is more than welcome for Scott Arniel and the Jets’ coaching staff, Perfetti and his line looked strong defensively, with his best play being one that won’t show up in the box score. 

A late-game stick lift of Brandon Saad, who was winding up for a one-timer in the slot, saved a high-danger chance in a moment where the Jets led by one. 

Perfetti was asked about his late-game stick lift: “It was one of those ones where you just kind of see the play develop, and I thought the guy was probably going to pass it back to him because it looked like it was probably back door. I just tried to get as much strength under it and lift his stick as hard as possible and luckily it worked out.” 

The Jets are proving they can win in multiple ways

After 8-3 and 6-3 wins over the weekend, the Jets got back to their team identity, which has remained intact early on this season, as they have allowed three goals or less in all six games. 

This was an intense, physical, divisional road game that the Jets were able to win as they continued to flex their versatility throughout this six-game winning streak. Connor Hellebuyck had to make a few big saves in this contest, none larger than the toe stop he made off of Brayden Schenn with 43 seconds remaining in the third period, but he was not needed to steal this game. 

The Jets are also proving they can win games where they trail early, which would be a common concern for a defensive-minded team. 

On Sunday, they trailed the Penguins 2-0 early in the second period before winning that game 6-3. An early 1-0 deficit was quickly erased by arguably the Jets’ best period of the season, as in the second period of this contest, Nino Niederreiter, Colin Miller, and Kyle Connor put the Jets up 3-1 rather quickly. 

While the strength of schedule has been on the easier side for Winnipeg to begin the season, they are proving they can win multiple different ways, which will pay dividends against stronger competition. 

Dylan Samberg and Neal Pionk pairing continues strong start

Dylan Samberg and Neal Pionk have put together a strong start to the 2024-25 season, with this pairing being one of the biggest discussion points coming into the year. 

Pionk, who is in a contract year, added another assist tonight on Niederretier’s goal to give him seven points (1G, 6A) through the first six games. 

Samberg also picked up a primary assist on Kyle Connor’s eventual game-winner, which gave him his first assist of the season so far. 

This pairing has not only been chipping in offensively, but they have won their tough minutes, often shutting down one of the opponents’ top two forward lines. According to MoneyPuck, they’ve outscored their competition 7-4 at five-on-five so far this year, which is an elite 63.6 percent goal share.

It will be interesting to see how this pairing fairs against stronger competition in the coming weeks, but the early returns on their underlying numbers are putting any potential concerns to rest for now.  

Up next:

The Jets now head into another time zone as they prepare for Thursday night’s 9:00 PM CDT start time against the Seattle Kraken (4-3-0). They’ll then wrap up the road trip on Saturday against Calgary, who has also gotten off to a hot start, beginning the year 5-0-1.