GAMEDAY: Maple Leafs at Jets

WINNIPEG - The Winnipeg Jets will try and tie the 1992-93 Pittsburgh Penguins tonight with their 17^th consecutive win when they host the Toronto Maple Leafs at Canada Life Centre.

The Jets have now won 16 consecutive regular season games, dating back to last season, which is also a franchise record. Winnipeg is just the fourth franchise in NHL history to hit that mark following the Penguins in 1992-93 (17-0-0), Oilers in 2023-24 (16-0-0) and the Blue Jackets in 2016-17 (16-0-0). The eight game win streak also matches the longest win streak in franchise history, which was set twice last season.

The key so far has to be the consistent play throughout the lineup.

I think the word we use is consistency. Like I said there is no road way, there is no home way. It’s not you play one way against one team and different against another,” said head coach Scott Arniel.

“There’s a style, a system and standards that we want to stick to. At the end of the day, it has more to do with us playing our game on a consistent basis.”

Here are the lines and D pairings from the morning skate, Connor Hellebuyck will start in goal.

The Jets are coming off a 5-3 win in Calgary in which Cole Perfetti scored a late power play goal that turned out to be the game winning goal. Winnipeg’s power play continues its torrid pace; through eight games, the Jets have gone a league-best 10-for-23 (43.5%). The 10 power play goals through the first eight games of the season are the most by the Jets since relocating from Atlanta.

“When special teams are going the right way, obviously, it's very positive,” said Alex Iafallo.

“And when it's not going the right way, you got to look at what you did before. So, just got to keep doing those good things and keep having fun.”

Winnipeg went 10-3-3 against Atlantic Division opponents last season with two losses coming against the Leafs (one in OT, the other in regulation). The Jets have dropped the last five meetings with the Canadian rivals. However, this time around, Winnipeg is the best team in the NHL while the Leafs come in at 4-4-1 with new coach Craig Berube.

“We’re confident in our game. I think the last few times we played these guys we got away from it. We got into a bit of a track meet, that’s not our game,” said Dylan DeMelo.

“We know they have a bit of a different philosophy with Berube there, trying to play a different way. At the end of the day, it’s all about us and how we play. Obviously, we have a good thing going right now, so just keep it going.”

Another one of the impressive parts of the Jets undefeated start to the season is that they have come from behind to win in six of their eight victories.

“I think the best part right now in the early going is that we are winning in definitely different ways. The power play has done a great job, PK’s done a great job. We are scoring timely goals 5-on-5 so we are getting contributions throughout our whole lineup,” said DeMelo.

“We have always said we are the sum of our parts. So, it’s good to see that every line, every D pair, both goalies are really contributing to our success here early.”

Winnipeg is 2-2-0 in the last four games against Toronto at Canada Life Centre. The previous half-dozen games between the two sides in Manitoba have been decided by two goals or more.