Winnipeg Jets

To kick off February, the Winnipeg Jets were involved in a battle for first place on a Saturday night, Hockey Night in Canada, and this game delivered. In what was possibly the Jets’ game of the year from an entertainment perspective, they walked away with a 5-4 overtime win to secure their sixth straight victory and remain the top team in the NHL. The Winnipeg Jets have won six straight games Remember when Scott Arniel called the Jets’ performance against Utah HC “embarrassing”, and later said they lost their captain, Adam Lowry, due to injury and his timeline to return was week-to-week? The Jets have not lost since then. Their latest was a 5-4 overtime thriller, capped off by a Josh Morrissey goal that gave Winnipeg their sixth straight win and a perfect 3-0 record on this road trip. The Jets held a two-goal lead three different times. At 2-0, 3-1, and 4-2, and yet the game went to OT as the Capitals pushed late in the third. “Yeah, it was a crazy game,” Morrissey said postgame. “There was a lot of weird stuff going on, a lot of goals. Obviously both teams are known for scoring, but also their defensive game. It was a fun game, a lot of swings. Great energy in the arena, and it was nice to be able to stick it out and get the two points.” Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve) This caps off an incredible road trip for the Jets, which started back in Montreal on Tuesday night, continued in Boston on Thursday, and finished off last night against the Capitals. There’s no second-half slide this year, and this version of the Winnipeg Jets is making sure of that. “Yeah, going 3-0 is huge. Tough trip, couple tough teams, tough buildings to play in, and we did a great job. It was a good test for our group and says a lot about how we’re playing right now, who we are, and we’ve got a couple more games heading into the break, and we’ll try to play the same way.” Dylan Samberg’s value continues to skyrocket The Winnipeg Jets are 26-6-1 when Dylan Samberg is in the lineup this season. Coming into the season, there were many questions about whether or not Samberg would be able to handle a top-four role. Those questions now look silly, as he has stabilized the Jets’ second defence pair with Neal Pionk, and has solidified himself as the second-best defenceman on the team. Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve) With Dylan Samberg on the ice for 21:18 of even-strength ice time, against the best team in the Eastern Conference, on the road, the Jets dominated. Goals: 2-0 Shot attempts: 27-11 Shots: 14-7 Scoring chances: 13-3 Expected goals percentage: 82.3% #'s via Natural Stat Trick The NHL recently projected that the cap space over the next three seasons is going to rise at quite a rate, and that is music to the sound of free agents’ ears. Samberg is one of those players due for a major pay raise, as he is a pending RFA at the end of this season, and is a player that should be high on Kevin Cheveldayoff’s list of priorities when it comes to bringing them back. He’s proving night after night that he is an ascending top-four defenceman, and his breakout season is one of the biggest storylines of the 2024-25 Jets season. Cole Perfetti is heating up Cole Perfetti said five games ago that he wanted to be more of a “prick” to play against. In that time, his game has taken a significant turn, as he has posted seven points in his last five games and added a goal and an assist last night. He was the highlight of an incredibly strong game from the Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti trio, which Scott Arniel made sure to mention in the postgame. “Vladdy’s line was outstanding,” Arniel said. “Every time they were dangerous, they had O-zone time, they hounded pucks.” Photo Credit: Colby Spence (Illegal Curve) That line spent a ton of time in Washington’s end of the rink, as the scoring chances with them on the ice were 10-3 in the Jets favour, and the high-danger chances 5-0. The second unit of the power play also got on the board once again, as they did on Thursday night against Boston. One of the keys to Winnipeg's power play clicking along at a historic pace so far this season hasn’t just been the top unit, but the second unit chipping in now and then, and Perfetti deserves a ton of credit for that unit’s success, and his level of play as of late. Up next The Jets will now return home for a two-game homestand before the Four Nations Face-Off break. Tuesday night, they welcome the newly acquired Mikko Rantanen and the Carolina Hurricanes to town, before taking on the New York Islanders on Friday evening heading into the break. Stay tuned to Illegalcurve.com for all the latest Jets and Moose news that you will need over the week.

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