Jets set NHL history, win 15 of first 16 games

NEW YORK — The Winnipeg Jets made NHL history with their 6-3 victory at the New York Rangers on Tuesday night, becoming the first team to win 15 of its first 16 games in a season.

“You play at MSG, you’ve got to put on a show,” said center Mark Scheifele, who scored two goals in the win. “It feels amazing. Obviously, it’s been a great start for us, but tonight’s over. Enjoy the win. And then back to work.”

The Jets’ start has been nothing short of remarkable. They became the fourth team since 1967-68 to lead the NHL in goals for and against per game through their first 15 games. They’ve scored five or more goals in half their games. Their 73 goals this season are the third most by a team in its first 16 games over the past 30 years.

With their win at the Rangers, the Jets moved to 7-0-0 on the road. The 36 goals they’ve scored away from Winnipeg are the most in NHL history for the nine teams that have won their first seven road games.

“We had talked about banking points at the start of the season. We’ve got a very tough division. I don’t think I quite drew it up this way, but certainly the guys have earned every inch of it,” said head coach Scott Arniel, who was promoted from associate coach in the offseason.

Kyle Connor scored twice, while Gabriel Vilardi and Vladislav Namestnikov added goals. Connor Hellebuyck made 33 saves for the Jets, many of them critical stops against the Rangers to maintain his team’s momentum. Hellebuyck is now 12-1-0 on the season and outdueled the Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin (five goals on 32 shots) in a battle of favorites to win the Vezina Trophy as the NHL’s top goaltender.

Connor said he felt that the Jets’ forecheck benefitted from the Rangers pressing offensively.

“I think they, for lack of better words, were cheating for offense in certain areas. They were going past our defensemen at times, and we were able to keep pucks in and make ’em pay,” he said.

Rangers coach Peter Laviolette simply felt the Jets executed better.

“I don’t think we were pressing. When you’re playing a team that’s firing offensively and the execution isn’t where it needs to be, it can turn around on you pretty quickly,” he said.

Scheifele scored 57 seconds into the contest before the Rangers’ Will Cuylle tied it at 13:07 of the first. Vilardi put the visitors ahead on the power play at 8:58 before Alexis Lafreniere tied the game again at 12:51 of the second. Connor put the Jets ahead for good at 16:03 of the second. Scheifele scored again 1:08 into the third — his ninth of the season — before Kaapo Kakko narrowed the deficit to 4-3 just 32 seconds later. Namestnikov scored his fifth at 13:08, and Connor completed the scoring into an empty net with 20 seconds to play.

“It’s coming from all areas of our team, top to bottom. Everybody’s involved in it, and that’s what makes it so dangerous, so lethal,” Connor said of the Jets’ offense. “It’s not just a one-trick pony. If one line has an off night, we usually have two or three going.”

The Jets continue on the road with games at the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday and the Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers on Saturday.

Connor said the team understands the history it’s making but isn’t allowing it to be a distraction.

“Honestly, we know what we’re doing, but we don’t take too much stock in it. It’s move on to the next one. It’s ‘How can we improve, how can we be better?'” he said. “I think that’s what made us successful to this point. Nobody’s satisfied. We won 15 here, but I just think that speaks to leadership not getting comfortable. Still a lot of season left.”