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Published Nov 27, 2025 • 3 minute read
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Jets winger Nino Niederreiter gets pushed into Capitals goaltender Charlie Lindgren by Connor McMichael during the third period of Wednesday’s game in Washington, D.C. The Jetds lost 4-3 and play in Raleigh, N.C., today against the Carolina Hurricanes. Photo by Nick Wass /AP PhotoArticle content
The Winnipeg Jets got from Washington to Carolina quickly and directly after their Wednesday night game. Private team jets make that pretty routine.
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How well they handle those two attributes of the Hurricanes will determine whether they break their losing skid or extend it on Friday.
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“Carolina forces you to play a fast game,” assistant coach Marty Johnston told reporters in Carolina after a Thursday skate. “They’re going to be very direct and if we’re direct, good things will happen.”
Not enough good things have happened to keep the Jets from losing their past three, most recently a 4-3 setback to the Capitals on Wednesday.
A 3-7 record in their past 10, 12-10 overall, has put four teams between Winnipeg and a wild-card playoff spot.
“When you’re losing games … it can be a little demoralizing,” forward Morgan Barron said. “But we’re trying to stick to the things we’re doing well. Our game is trending in the right direction even though the results aren’t there. All the confidence in this group that we’re going to get moving on the right track and get better results. That’s the belief we have to have.”
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Sitting 26th, overall, purely on points, the Jets will try to turn their fortunes around against a Hurricanes squad that’s 14-7-2 but has lost two straight.
They’re also one of the top four highest-scoring teams in the NHL.
“We know they’re coming,” Barron said. “They come with a lot of speed, they’re attacking off the rush, they have a ton of skill. The style they play is predictable. We’ll have a good game plan.”
Keeping faith in their plan becomes more of a challenge with each passing loss, though.
“Don’t try to do more than what you do every night,” is how defenceman Dylan DeMelo put it. “Obviously we’ve talked about 10 percent more, about giving more. But that doesn’t mean you go outside of your foundation and what makes you successful every single night.”
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DeMelo says every big mistakes seems to end up in the back of his team’s net.
It doesn’t help that Connor Hellebuyck isn’t manning it, nor does it help that the Jets are getting nearly all their scoring from one line, their top one: Mark Scheifele between Kyle Connor and Gabe Vilardi.
“The guys that aren’t scoring, find a way to get some offence,” head coach Scott Arniel said after Wednesday’s setback. “You can’t go into games with one line running.”
Arniel wants more production from his blue line, too.
“We’ve got to get a little bit hungrier,” he said. “We’ve got to get a little bit meaner about going and finding ways to score goals.”
“You look in the mirror,” DeMelo added. “You know if you’ve got more to give or not. You know what you need to do to help our team out. Continue to work hard and see what we can do here.”
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With the Jets playing Friday and Saturday (in Nashville), untested goalie Thomas Milic is expected to get the call for one of the next two.
Having a 22-year-old making his NHL debut between the pipes might not sound like the way to end a slump, but this team doesn’t have any choice, so they’ll draw what they can from it.
“That definitely gives us a little bit of a boost,” DeMelo said. “You go back in memory lane and remember your first game and all the excitement and nerves and all that emotion. You kind of live it again.”
Milic’s first game will follow that of defenceman Elias Salomonsson, who marked his first in Washington.
“It’s great to see these young guys make that jump, great for the organization,” DeMelo said. “You obviously want to get them a win and get them on the right foot.”
“Those guys worked their rear end off to get to this point,” Barron added. “It’s a long journey for everyone.”
paul.friesen@kleinmedia.ca
X: @friesensunmedia
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