After a 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night, the Jets continue their 6 game road trip in Vegas on Friday night. The next challenge for the league leading (18-5-0) Jets are the Vegas Golden Knights, who currently lead the Pacific division with a 14-6-3 record. The Knights are coming off a 2-1 shootout loss to the Avalanche on Wednesday, but picked up victories in 3 straight games prior to that one.

The mood around the Jets has “shifted” a bit after their latest loss. After an NHL record 15-1-0 start, the Jets find themselves 3-4-0 in their last 7 games. The bigger picture shows that the Jets are still one of the teams to beat so far this season, but the last few efforts have started leaving some question marks from the fans.

It doesn’t get easier for the Jets though, who will play the 5th of 6 games on this road trip against a team that they have not beaten in the regular season since March 22nd, 2022. The Jets are 5-9-1 in their last 15 games against the Golden Knights (including playoffs), and the last 3 regulation games between these two teams have all been losses for the Jets. I think it might just be a good time to end that streak… but it won’t be easy.

Special teams continue to be a talking point a quarter of the way into the season, and this game won’t be any different. The Jets and Golden Knights are number 1 and number 2 in the league for powerplay percentage, sitting at 33.8% and 30.4%. When it comes to the penalty kill, the Jets and Golden Knights rank tied 19th in the league, each sporting a 77.6% penalty kill percentage. Each and every powerplay opportunity will be crucial tonight, and it could end up being the difference maker in this matchup.

The projected starting goalies for tonight’s game are Connor Hellebuyck and Adin Hill (subject to official confirmation). Hellebuyck continues to amaze me game after game, but the last few games the Jets have begun relying too much on the two-time Vezina Trophy winner. All time, Hellebuyck has played 13 games against the Golden Knights, maintaining a 3.00 GAA and a save percentage of .912 with 2 shutouts.

Adin Hill and Ilya Samsonov have both played well as of late. Samsonov is 3-1-0 at T-Mobile Arena (nicknamed the Fortress), and Hil is 3-1-1 in his last 5 starts. The Golden Knights know that this game will be one of their toughest tests yet this season, so they’ll be looking for their starting goalie to carry that momentum in front of the home crowd.

Jets head coach Scott Arniel took a big part of the responsibility when it comes to explaining the Jets poor starts in their last 2 games. He stated that “we were slow to get out again, and I’ll put that on me again… I’ve got to make sure that we push harder”. Some credit should be given to the Kings last game, but I began to notice that the Jets weren’t getting good enough zone time throughout the game, something they’ve succeeded at in most of their victories this season.

Shots on goal aren’t always a good measure of success, but the Jets have not been generating enough shots on goal the last few games. Last game, the shots on goal were 33-14 for the Kings, and I want to see the Jets get pucks on net early tonight to generate some momentum from the opening puck drop. This will be especially important on the powerplay, when the Jets will have some net front presence that needs to be ready for any rebound opportunities.

The Jets may begin to look tired as this road trip concludes, but Nino Niederreiter says having tired legs can’t be used as an excuse. After Wednesday’s game, Niederreiter summarized his thoughts on the tough travel schedule by saying that “it was more about us not being ready to play than not being recharged”. An energized looking team will give the Jets the best chance to defeat a team that has performed historically well at home since entering the league in 2017.

Puck drop for tonight’s game is at 7:30 pm CT, and make sure to check back here at Jets Nation post game for an instant recap & reaction on all the action.  #GoJetsGo