The Winnipeg Jets have been struggling to find wins due to injuries to key players. Will they be able to find their game in time for the playoffs?
At the end of January, the Winnipeg Jets boasted a 33-16-2 record and were one of the best teams in the league. Since then, they have gone 13-14-2 and have lost four out of their last five games as their hold on first place in the Central Division starts to slip away.
Huge injuries to key players like Dustin Byfuglien and Josh Morrissey obviously affected the team but this roster should have been deep enough to hold on. Unfortunately, the players that they relied on have been hitting slumps, with players like Patrik Laine going months with only a single goal.
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Last night, the Jets lost yet again to the Minnesota Wild who completed the season sweep as they won in all five of their meetings, demolishing Winnipeg 5-1. After the game, the players held a closed-door team meeting to air out all their frustrations.
The team has not been playing with the same defensive structure as before, which has lead to a ton of scoring chances the other way. Not only is this team struggling to find the back of the net, but they have been having a hard time keeping it out of their own net as well. In their last five games, the Jets have been outscored 21-12 and have given up 40+ shots twice.
Against the New York Islanders, they had a 4-2 lead in the third period and gave up three unanswered goals, two of them coming with less than two minutes left in the game. It’s these kinds of losses that suck the energy out of your team and that is the last thing the Jets need.
Currently, the Jets are still first in the Central Division which means that they will most likely play the Dallas Stars but if they are unable to close it out in the regular season, they might drop to third in the division and play either the Nashville Predators or the St. Louis Blues.
Those two teams have been playing extremely well as of late (since the second half of the season, only the Tampa Bay Lightning have a better record than the Blues) and the Jets have to do everything they can to avoid those powerhouse teams for as long as possible.
The Winnipeg Jets have the player personnel to make a living hell for their opposing teams. We’ve seen it in the first half of the season and all of last year. It’s only a matter of getting everyone back on track. Hopefully, that closed-door meeting puts all the players on the same page and rejuvenates their group because if they continue to play loosey-goosey, they will not last long in the playoffs.