The Winnipeg Jets are soaring right now, sitting at the top of the NHL standings with 88 points and a 42-15-4 record. They’re on pace for their best season in franchise history, and it looks like nothing is going to stop them. However, with 21 games left to play, including 13 in March, there’s no time to get comfortable.

Despite dropping two games in a row, the Jets haven’t yet experienced their typical post-February break collapse that many critics expect. Still, there are areas that need improvement, particularly their power play. Since returning from the break, the Jets are 0-for-14 on the power play, including several missed opportunities on 5-on-3 situations. The power play has been a key factor in their success this season, so hopefully, this slump is temporary. If it is, it’s better for them to work through it now rather than later when the pressure intensifies in the postseason.

March will be a defining month for the Jets. They kick off an eastern road trip tonight in Long Island against the New York Islanders. From there, they will face the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday and play the New Jersey Devils in a back-to-back less than 24 hours later. Their road trip will wrap up in Carolina on Sunday before they return home to take on a tough two-game homestand against the New York Rangers and Dallas Stars.

The Jets will then hit the road once again, this time heading to the West coast to face the Seattle Kraken, Vancouver Canucks, and Edmonton Oilers. They’ll close out the month with a challenging four-game homestand, hosting the Buffalo Sabres, Washington Capitals, Devils, and Canucks.

Out of the 11 teams the Jets will face this month, 7 are most likely playoff-bound. These include tough opponents like the Devils and Canucks (whom they’ll face twice), along with the Capitals, Oilers, Hurricanes, Stars, and Rangers. These teams will bring playoff-level intensity every night, and the Jets can’t afford to have any “off nights” if they want to keep their momentum. While it’s always crucial to play your best against any opponent—since any team can win on any given night—these particular teams will push the Jets to match the intensity they’ll need in the postseason. If the Jets fail to rise to that challenge, they risk repeating last year’s first-round exit to the Colorado Avalanche. Playoff hockey is a completely different animal compared to the regular season.

Nikolaj Ehlers made it clear that regular season success means little in the grand scheme of things when it comes to playoff time:

“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how well you do in the regular season. Nobody gives a crap.”

“We’ve been in this position before and lost in the first round,” Ehlers added. “It all depends on how you play as a team. There are so many scenarios that you can pull out, from St. Louis, who weren’t very good until Christmas and then made the playoffs and won the Stanley Cup. You’ve got to find the right time to play as a team and play well together.”

“We have the system, we have the players to do it,” he continued. “And it’s just a matter of getting the mentality completely right and getting everyone doing the same things.”

Ehlers summed it up perfectly: the Jets have the talent and the system, but can they get it done when it matters most?