Prepare for some turbulence as the Jets have flown into Raleigh and are about to experience Hurricane conditions. Thankfully the storm doesn’t seem to be as strong as it was back in December when it blew through Winnipeg and upended the Jets by a 6-3 score, but the Jets are a bit battered and have lost four of their last five games so it might be a good idea for Winnipeg fans to buckle in as tonight could be a bumpy ride against a Carolina team that has found some new life after beating the New York Islanders in a shootout on Sunday.

Here are some other things to watch out for tonight…

The Canes are a fast team both in terms of puck movement and overall skating speed. They are a team that loves to create off the rush and they will jump all over mistakes which is exactly how they took care of the Jets back in December. That game was one of the few games that the numbers would suggest the Jets had that game well in hand (xG was 2.44 to 1.85 in favor of the Jets), both from a standpoint of the Jets limiting how much offense Carolina got, and the chances Winnipeg had to score.

But the Jets did show an inability to defend against a faster club and it was a poor night from @Connor Hellebuyck.

Based on the Jets’ last two games, their ability to defend anything with speed hasn’t improved at all so the Jets are going to need a big night from Hellebuyck and hopefully some puck luck to work against Carolina for a chance to stay in this one.

The Canes are top ten in the league both on the power play (21.3% good for 9th) and the penalty kill (83.1% good for 4th). Not only that, but they lead the league in shorthanded goals scored with nine. Again, the key is speed for Carolina as they will use it to pressure the opposing team while killing penalties, and make quick passes and puck movement when they have the man advantage.

That said, Carolina’s power play has struggled over the last handful of games having gone 0 for 18 over their last eight games played. For as critisized as it has been, Winnipeg’s penalty kill has improved from it’s dreadful work in December and at the moment ranks sixth in the NHL at 88% for the month of January.

While the Jets have been fairly respectable on the power play, the Chicago game was a good example of how a team as quick as the Blackhawks are can give the Jets issues as they don’t move the puck as well as other teams. The Jets rely on their shooting ability and if they are unable to finish – like we saw on Sunday – it makes for a long night.

The talk some players had on Sunday of the Jets being a good comeback team aren’t exactly accurate. The Jets are 11-2-0 when they lead after the first period, but a dreadful 4-10-3 when they trail after 20. Meanwhile the Hurricanes are a perfect 15-0-1 when leading after the first and just as ugly as the Jets are when trailing with a 3-12-0 mark.

To go a step further, Carolina is 21-3-1 when they open up the scoring. The Jets are pretty good when they get the 1-0 lead as well, although not as much of a sure thing as Carolina has seemed to be as Winnipeg is just 17-6-0 when they get the first goal of the game.

After two rather bad efforts against teams that were on the second half of back to back games, and a closed door meeting on Sunday night after the loss to the Blackhawks, it would be astonishing if we don’t see the Jets come out with all kinds of urgency and alertness to their game tonight. I’m going to assume that’s exactly what we’ll see because as mentioned the start of the game will be key and heaven help this club if they fall behind early.