The longest Winnipeg Jets road trip this season

Be sure to check Betway to check out the latest Jets game day odds and bet on the NHL!  On Sunday, the Winnipeg Jets kicked off their longest road trip of the season against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The first game of the Winnipeg Jets’ longest road trip of the season was a success, with a 6-1 victory over one of the lesser teams in the NHL.

With four games left on the road trip, the Jets will be taking on the top team in the Metro, the New York Rangers, the New York Islanders who are fighting for the final wild card playoff spot in the East, the Washington Capitals who are currently just one point back of the Islanders for the wild card playoff spot, and the New Jersey Devils who only have an 8.9 percent chance of making the playoffs according to Moneypuck.com.

These are going to be four tough games. Everyone has something to prove. The Jets are going to need to pick up a minimum of seven out of ten points on this road trip to not just give themselves a shot to win the division but also to shut up the naysayers.

The real test of the road trip starts Tuesday against the big bad Rangers, who have only lost two games in the month of March and most recently are coming off of a 5-2 victory over rivals, the New York Islanders.

The Rangers have beaten up on their Western Conference opponents this season, going 19-8-2 against the West, including a 3-2 win over the Jets at Canada Life Centre on October 30th.

This is a must-win game for the Jets. Not that anything is directly on the line for this game, but the Jets have struggled against playoff teams in 2024. A win against one of the best teams in the NHL will keep myself and probably you content with the Jets going into the playoffs.

The Jets can take advantage of the Rangers as their team is dealing with a bit of an injury bug right now. Players like Filip Chytil, Jacob Trouba, Blake Wheeler, and Matt Rempe will all most likely miss Tuesday’s game.

This will be a hard-fought game. The Jets should walk out of the Big Apple with a win at Madison Square Garden.

The Devils have played ok against the West. They are 14-15-1 against the Western conference with a 6-3 loss against the Jets on November 11th.

Presumed starter Jake Allen, the Devils’ deadline acquisition, is either lights out against the Jets or is Swiss cheese against the Jets. He did recently defeat the Jets’ kryptonite, the Dallas Stars, 6-2. Overall against the Jets, Allen is 8-8-3 with a .889 goals-against average and a 3.15 goals-against.

Really, if the Jets are going to lose a game this road trip, it can be against a team that is desperate to punch their ticket to the postseason. The Jets are 5-1-0 against the Devils since 2021; recent history says the Jets should handle the Devils with ease.

Back-to-back weekend matinee games, I am all over it. The Islanders have had the Jets’ number since 2021, going 4-1-0 against Winnipeg. The Jets did win the last game between the two teams 4-2 on January 16th at Canada Life Centre.

Both the Islanders and Capitals are going to give everything they have to sneak into the final wildcard playoff spot in the East. Both of these teams are just one point back of the Detroit Red Wings, who have the final playoff spot.

The Islanders are much like the Devils in their success against the west with a sub .500 winning percentage, only going 11-12-6 against the West.

The Capitals on Sunday should be a locked-in win for Winnipeg. The Jets have only lost once in the second of a back-to-back this season, but we should expect maybe one of the toughest games of the season Sunday morning.

Washington got their asses beat 3-0 when they were in town on March 11th. They aren’t going to take this game lightly; they can’t afford the loss if the playoffs are truly the goal for them this season.

The Capitals are 13-13-4 against the West this season and have a goal differential of -25. Everything points to a Jets win except recent history between these two teams. The Capitals are 3-1-1 against the Jets since 2021.

In a perfect world, the Jets would be undefeated on this road trip. We don’t live in a perfect world, and a loss or two should be expected for Jets fans. I would prefer the Jets won their game against the Rangers as they are a top team in the NHL and the Jets have struggled against these kinds of teams in 2024.

The Devils game doesn’t matter one way or another, but another six-goal game would be sweet from the Jets. Finally, I want to see the Jets at least split their back-to-back over the weekend. If the Jets can pull off wins over the New York teams plus the win over Columbus, I think we can say the longest road trip of the season was a success.