As of today, March 21st, the Winnipeg Jets are tied with the Washington Capitals for first place in the NHL standings, both sitting at 100 points. They’ve also built a commanding 10-point lead over the second-place Dallas Stars atop the Central Division.

This marks the second consecutive season where Winnipeg has dominated the regular season. Yet, despite their success, the “fraud” label still lingers—an unfortunate consequence of their inability to translate regular season dominance into playoff success.

Last season, the Jets finished second in the Central Division with 110 points, posting an impressive 52-24-6 record. They ended up 5th in the league standings and looked poised for a deep playoff run. But, as we know now, things went south quickly.

Winnipeg faced the Colorado Avalanche in the first round and had the first two games at home. Game 1 was a barnburner, with the Jets sneaking out a 7-6 win—though it was a game they easily could’ve lost. Colorado responded with a 5-2 win in Game 2, evening the series. The Avalanche then took complete control, winning Games 3 and 4 by scores of 6-2 and 5-1. When the series shifted back to Winnipeg for Game 5, the Jets had a chance to reignite the Whiteout’s energy. Instead, they were lit up once again, falling 6-3 as Colorado advanced. Winnipeg completely unraveled, allowing an eye-popping 28 goals in five games—a total disaster from goaltending to defence and beyond.

The biggest issue? Goaltending. Connor Hellebuyck, who went on to win the Vezina Trophy, had arguably the worst stretch of his career in that series. Yet, Hellebuyck believed otherwise.

“You’re probably not going to believe me when I say this, but I was playing the best hockey of my career,” Hellebuyck said. “I was in that zone where you’re not thinking—you’re just playing. But to not be able to keep four goals off the board was heartbreaking.”

“I mean, you’ve got to give them some kudos for what they did, but looking back, I don’t know if I even saw half of the pucks that went into the net. They did a great job, but for me to not be able to put my foot down even in a single game is really heartbreaking.”

Hellebuyck’s numbers were brutal: 1-4 record, 5.23 GAA, and an .870 SV%. He allowed at least four goals in all five games. While he pointed out Colorado’s effective net-front traffic, the reality is that his performance was far below the standard he had set during the regular season.

But it wasn’t just Hellebuyck. The defence was atrocious—sticks left unchecked, poor coverage, and an inability to clear the crease. The offence wasn’t much better. After scoring seven goals in Game 1, they managed just eight goals total over the next four games.

The answer is actually pretty simple: the Jets don’t switch into playoff mode.

Time and time again, we’ve seen teams dominate the regular season but falter in the playoffs because they failed to adapt to the intensity and physicality of postseason hockey. A prime example is the 2018-19 Presidents’ Trophy-winning Tampa Bay Lightning, who were swept by the wild-card Columbus Blue Jackets.

Playoff hockey is a completely different beast—a faster, grittier, and more physical game where everyone has a chance if they embrace that mentality. If the Jets want to clear the “fraud” label, they’ll need to do more than just show up next month. They’ll need to play playoff hockey.