Tuesday night in St. Paul, the Winnipeg Jets notched their fourth straight victory on the road this season.
Of course, it didn’t come without its challenges – or at times, its blemishes. But a win is a win in the National Hockey League, especially in overtime.
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Sure, the Jets are again fighting for first place in the Central Division just 10 games into the season, and do boast a winning percentage of .700 — but as the schedule now starts to lean toward November, improving their overall game is becoming even more consequential.
Now, perfection is the grand hope in sports, but an unrealistic truth. And while the Jets’ coaching staff and players continually talk about “cleaning things up,” the bottom line is Winnipeg isn’t exactly the same team it was last season – especially up front.
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With five new faces on the forward corps, the team is essentially transitioning two new lines into its depth chart right now. That integration has been understandably a methodical process, where line combinations and positional usage have been anything but consistent.
But so far, the Jets appear to be passing the test, as their 7-3 record indicates, although concern still abounds in the search for the right mix — and chemistry — outside of the Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi line.
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That is why when captain Adam Lowry stepped on the ice Tuesday for the morning skate in St. Paul in a regular jersey, you could quietly feel the excitement around the team in knowing one of its most important pieces is that much closer to returning to the lineup.
And with winger Cole Perfetti presumably not far behind either, the Jets are getting close to looking like a different team – or more appropriately, more like the one we’re most familiar with watching.
And while Winnipeg has still managed to find its way to more victories than losses to start the year, returning two key pieces to the lineup in good time should help ease the challenges on a nightly basis and clean up the blemishes for even more victories to follow.
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