The Winnipeg Jets keep climbing to new heights. And it appears they are enjoying the view from above.
A 6-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday in front of 13,760 fans at Canada Life Centre extended a franchise-best start to 5-0-0 and leaves them as the NHL’s only unbeaten team. It also marked a 13th-straight regular-season triumph dating back to last year which is tied for the 11th-longest in league history and only four off the all-time mark.
“It’s a long season and it’s hard to get guys to continually do it every night. But the biggest thing I’ve said about the buy-in is the results that come from it,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said of the mentality of his group.
There had been a pair of routs (6-0 over Edmonton, 8-3 over San Jose) and a pair of low-scoring overtime thrillers (2-1 over Chicago, 2-1 over Minnesota) to start the new campaign. The latest outing presented a different challenge, with Pittsburgh opening up a 2-0 lead by the midway mark of the second period.
No problem for these resilient Jets, who fought back to grab the lead before the intermission and then pulled away down the stretch with six different skaters scoring. They also got a terrific performance from backup goaltender Eric Comrie, who made 38 saves in his first start of the season.
“We’re kind of a defence-first mindset type of team. We would rather win a game 2-1 or 3-2, but to have the ability to win a game 6-5 or 5-3 or something like that, it shows that we’re diverse and we have scoring up and down the lineup,” said Jets forward Mason Appleton.
“We also have guys committed to play the right way for 60 minutes. That was a product of winning a game a different way than it might look like on a different night. At the end of the day, it’s a good win and we’re going to keep it going.”
Let’s dig a bit deeper into this one:
1) Long time coming for Comrie: The 29-year-old has recorded a dozen wins over his career during two previous stints with the Jets, with the most recent one coming back in April 2022. He had to wait a while for his first chance during his latest stop in Winnipeg, with Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck getting the first four starts.
Comrie did everything you could ask from a backup, looking calm, cool and collected despite facing a barrage of shots from a veteran Penguins squad that was trying to erase the stink of a 4-1 loss on Friday to Carolina. He had no chance on the three pucks that beat him and kept the Jets in the game until their offence kicked into gear.
“Super happy to be back and play in front of these guys,” Comrie said following the game.
“This group is unbelievable. I don’t think people understand how good they are in front of you, how much they buy into the system, how much they believe what coach is telling us. It’s rare to have that when the whole team buys in, it’s really special.”
Comrie, for our money, was the first star of the game.
“Coms did a great job of slowing their momentum down,” said Appleton. “If he didn’t make some of those saves, I don’t know if we’re winning that game.”
2) Electric Ehlers: If you are looking for a turning point to this game, a good place to start is with Nikolaj Ehlers.
With Winnipeg down a pair of goals, he got his team going by setting up Kyle Connor for the first goal at 12:16 of the middle frame. It happened during a delayed penalty against Pittsburgh — drawn by Ehlers — who fed a perfect cross-ice pass to Connor for his fourth of the year.
After Mark Scheifele tied it with his team-leading fifth at 17:36, Ehlers then set up linemate Vlad Namestnikov at 19:29 to put his team ahead for the first time.
“He’s a game-breaker,” said Arniel. “We have weapons, but other teams if they kind of forget that Nik is on the ice it usually burns them. He’s got such speed and quickness that that opens up lanes and opportunities for other guys.”
Ehlers, a pending unrestricted free agent next summer, now has five points in his past two games. We’ve got him down as the second star.
3) Set play becomes key play: The Penguins weren’t going away quietly, with Lars Eller ripping a wicked wrister over Comrie’s shoulder and under the crossbar just 1:39 into the third period to tie it 3-3.
But the Jets regained the lead, this time for good, at 4:20 of the final frame during what Appleton revealed was a set play. With a faceoff in the Penguins zone, Adam Lowry won the puck back to Josh Morrissey, who fired a hard pass at Appleton who had charged to the front of the net.
The idea would be to try and get a deflection, but the puck actually hit his skate and/or stick and went right to Lowry, who scooped it home for the eventual game-winner.
“I thought we did a good job answering,” said Appleton. “That was another big goal. Just kind of a game of waves and momentum changes. Glad we stuck with it and fought until the end there.”
Appleton — our third star of the game — then gave the Jets some breathing room a few minutes late when his pass attempt was deflected by a Penguins defender past goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. Just like Lowry, it was his second goal of the year.
The other winger on that so-called shutdown line then finished things off as Nino Niederreiter scored into an empty-net for his first of the season. Not only was the trio of Lowry, Appleton and Niederrieter effective at keeping both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin off the board, but they managed to turn the tide and score three goals of their own.
4) Lineup shuffle: Comrie for Hellebuyck wasn’t the only change to a winning lineup that had been identical through the first four games.
Forward David Gustafsson replaced Rasmus Kupari, centring the fourth line between Alex Iafallo and Morgan Barron. And defenceman Logan Stanley was activated from injured reserve and took Haydn Fleury’s spot on the third pairing with Colin Miller.
“I don’t know it’s ever the right time,” Arniel said. “I just wanted to get them in. I thought at home here, an afternoon game, some fresh legs was an opportunity to do.”
5) Extra, extra: There was a brief but loud “Where Is Rutger” chant, followed a few minutes later by “Yager’s Better,” during the third period. That’s in reference to the Rutger McGroarty for Brayden Yager swap of top forward prospects this past summer.
McGroarty, for those asking, is currently in the American Hockey League, where he’s gone without a point in his first two games. The Penguins sent McGroarty down after he failed to record a point in his first four NHL games. Yager, meanwhile, is off to a sizzling start with the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL, now with 13 points (7G, 6A) in his first seven games.
The Jets will practice on Monday morning before hitting the road for a three-game trip which starts Tuesday night in St. Louis.
X: @mikemcintyrewpg
Mike McIntyre
Sports reporter
Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.
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