The Winnipeg Jets return to the ice tonight to play game #11 of their 2024-25 regular season against the Columbus Blue Jackets at 6:00 pm CT. After the month of October, the Jets sit at the top of the NHL standings with a near perfect 9-1-0 record. The Blue Jackets have played some solid hockey in the month of October, and find themselves also exceeding some expectations with a 5-3-1 record.

Rather than focus on a full preview for tonight’s game, I thought it would be a good time to recap the Jets season so far after the 10 game mark. Nobody saw a franchise best 9-1-0 start for the Jets, but when you look at how certain players on the team have been playing, as well as how aspects like the special teams have gone for the Jets, the numbers don’t lie.

I’ll start with going over a quick summary of the Jets first 10 games, followed by what has stood out (both good and bad, but mostly good) about the Jets forwards, defence, and goaltending.

The Jets opened their season by stunning the Oilers at their home opener 6-0. The 3rd line of Appleton, Lowry and Niederreiter led the way in this one, and Hellebuyck was a perfect 30/30 to earn the shutout. Following up a great 1st performance, the Jets won a close one in OT against the Blackhawks 2-1. Mark Scheifele scored both goals, collecting his 300th career goal in the process.

Game 3 was another gritty 2-1 OT win for the Jets over the Wild. Scheifele had himself another multi-point game, and Hellebuyck continued his early season Vezina calibre play. The Sharks then paid a visit to Winnipeg, and the Jets dominated this one winning 8-3. A trio of 4 point performances led the Jets to victory. Line 2 (Vladislav Namestnikov, Cole Perfetti and Nikolaj Ehlers) combined for 11 points together, and Neal Pionk got a goal in 3 assists.

A casual 6-3 win over the Penguins gave the Jets a 5-0-0 record. The player who stood out this game was backup goalie Eric Comrie, making 39 saves in his 1st appearance of the season. Game 6 was another one of those close games, with the Jets beating the Blues 3-2. This game was Cole Perfetti’s 2nd shining moment of the season, assisting on all 3 of the Jets goals.

A 3rd OT victory for the Jets, this time over the Kraken (4-3), kept the perfect season alive. Niederreiter scored 2 goals in this game and the Jets just found a way yet again the get the win. The Jets then went up to Calgary for game 8 of the season, and won 5-3 over the Flames. No one single player stood out in this game, it was just a complete team performance. Comrie made his 2nd appearance in goal, and played well enough to give the Jets a chance to win this game.

Game 9 was when the Jets perfect 8-0-0 start would end. A tough 6-4 loss at home to the Maple Leafs was the 1st defeat of the season for the Jets. Hellebuyck played ok this game, allowing 5 goals on 35 shots, but the whole team couldn’t get going early and started the game down 4-0 in the 2nd. Kyle Connor had himself a 4 point performance, and some credit was due for the Jets not giving up in this one, but they just fell short at the end. Finally, game 10, which took place on Wednesday, was a nice 6-2 bounce back win for the Jets over the Red Wings. Pionk scored twice, Connor got himself another 3 points, and that is how the Jets got to where they are now with a 9-1-0 record.

The Jets have gotten wonderful production through 10 games across their top 3 forward lines. Kyle Connor leads the way with 9 goals and 8 assists (17 points) in 10 games. Mark Scheifele is behind Connor with 13 points in 10 games. Nikolaj Ehlers is the 3rd Jets forward currently at a point per game pace, with 4 goals and 7 assists (11 points) in these 10 games. The only thing that the Jets haven’t seen (in terms of scoring and overall production) from their forwards is from their 4th line. Alex Iafallo has 3 points (no goals), Rasmus Kupari only has 1 goal (no assists) and Morgan Barron is pointless. I know points are a bottom priority for the 4th line, but you hope to see them get on the scoresheet a little more here in the next set of 10 games.

Neal Pionk is playing in both “contract mode” and “new dad mode” right now, and his good play is showing because of that. In 10 games, Pionk has scored 3 goals and has 9 assists for 12 points. Josh Morrissey has also been a talking point at this point in the season, collecting 11 points in 10 games to go along with a +7 rating. The two Dylans (Samberg and DeMelo) haven’t been as noticeable so far, but they are after all the shutdown guys on their respective pairings. Colin Miller has played pretty well on the 3rd pairing, scoring twice with his mighty slap shot and has added 3 assists for 5 points. Haydn Fleury played well enough in his 4 appearances, and Logan Stanley continues to have some consistency issues after returning from injury. Hopefully we can see Ville Heinola at some point coming up here too, as he remains without a timeline to return to play.

Last but not least, the goaltending duo of Connor Hellebuyck and Eric Comrie. Aside from the 5 goals allowed game against the Maple Leafs, Hellebuyck has played terrific and consistent in his 8 appearances. A 7-1-0 record with a 2.12 GAA and a .923 SV% puts Hellebuyck near the top of the league in all the important goalie statistics. Comrie collected a win in both of his 2 appearances, and has a 3.00 GAA and a .915 SV%. A few of the goals that Comrie has allowed have been “bad” goals, but he’s done what’s most important, which is giving the Jets a chance to win the games he plays in. Going from Hellebuyck to using any backup goalie will always make Jets fans a little worried (since they can’t compare to Hellebuyck), but Comrie has shown that he earned that backup job in training camp.

Make sure to check out our JetsNation Instagram before the game tonight to see Angus’ pre game show. Following the game, come back here to see an instant reaction and recap on tonight’s game. Game number 11 goes tonight, let’s hope that the Jets pick up their 10th win of the season.