Dismiss the last two Winnipeg Jets wins based on the fact that it was the lowly, yet-to-win-in-regulation Arizona Coyotes that they beat up twice, if you need to. But rest assured had the Jets even lost one of those two games, the pitchforks and the “I told you so’s” would be out in full force, which makes the act of downplaying those two wins as unimportant a bit of a hypocritical act.

Those two Jets wins were important because they were wins the Jets had to have. You don’t make the playoffs constantly losing to sub .500 teams below you and the Jets did exactly what should be expected of a team if they want to be considered a playoff contender.

Of course, no reason to plan a parade around the last two games either, it was after all just the Coyotes they beat. No big deal.

Other thoughts from last nights game…

I saw some fans after the game point out that the Jets were outshot in the game by the Coyotes and that the overall analytics and numbers beyond the 4-1 score of last night’s game suggests the Jets were at least a little bit fortunate to win the game. I also saw other fans with an attitude of “who cares? Just enjoy the wins!”

It’s possible and probably a good idea that fans do both.

Appreciate that this team is already at 10 wins and three games over proper .500, appreciate that they are in second place, appreciate that this is maybe the best roster the Jets have iced since their return to Winnipeg and maybe in their entire Thrashers/Jets franchise history…

But also understand that there are issues that could bite this team in the weeks to come. The penalty kill (albeit perfect last night) still has a tendency to give up too many shots from the outside and they aren’t good enough at completely taking away second chance opportunities generated from this initial shots. They still have issues getting out of their own zone on defense. Their offensive zone entry work has gotten a slight bit better but has room for improvement.

And ideally you’d like to have more shots than the other team on a regular basis. The Jets have been out-shot in eight of their last ten games.

Now granted they are also 6-1-3 in those last ten games, but I think even Jets players would admit it’s better to be the shooter than the shoot-ie. (Shoot-ee? Shoot-ies?)

The Jets keep winning and that’s all that matters in the end. Take a moment, forget all the “issues” and just enjoy how well the team has done so far.

One doesn’t really think of a goalie as the game’s top star when his team gave him a four goal lead before the halfway point of the game, so Connor Hellebuyck’s effort last night I thought may have gone under appreciated a bit until near the end of the game when suddenly everyone realized he had to make 32 saves to get the win and that his work in the first period helped allow the Jets get to that somewhat comfortable four goal lead.

And it can’t be understated how good it was to see him bounce back with a very strong game after a bit of a clunker in Vegas. That kind of thing didn’t happen much last season so from Hellebuyck’s standpoint it’s another sign of how much he’s improved over the summer, and for the Jets it helps assert the fact that Hellebuyck *is* this team’s number one goalie.

Steve Mason I am sure would love to be in there right now, but he’s also a veteran and knows how this deal works. I’m sure he also knows he’ll get his chance to carry and run with the ball.

I have little doubt that at the end of the season we may be considering Steve Mason the number one guy, but for the here and now that title unquestionably belongs to Hellebuyck.

More encouraging than the “secondary scoring” from the likes of Armia, Copp and Lowry was the steal and score from Brian Little who has not gotten out to the best start this season.

The Jets need him to produce on that second line. Or third line depending on what Paul Maurice decides to do with Perreault’s return. I think those two players are your leading candidates to get moved to a third line role and one of them will be, perhaps even platooned in that role for now as Maurice will no doubt shuffle things up and try to tinker with team chemistry.

At any rate, here is hoping Little – who has been better in the last five games and has at least shown some improved ability to help generate offence – has found his scoring touch.

Here is hoping that if that is indeed the case, Maurice realizes he now has the chance to roll with three very skilled, offensively minded lines and a fourth line that can provide as much grit as needed but also – as we saw from Copp and Lowry – chip in some offence as well.