“One game at a time”: The Winnipeg Jets are off to the best start in the NHL at 15-1

NEW YORK – The Winnipeg Jets have become the first NHL team to earn 15 wins in their first 16 games as their focused group continues to preach the mantra of “one game at a time.”

Timely scoring and great goaltending were at the forefront as the Jets defeated the New York Rangers 6-3. Winnipeg leads the league with a franchise record 73 goals in 16 games.

“We know what we’re doing, but we don’t think too much about it. “We’ll just move on to the next game,” Jets forward Kyle Connor said. “It speaks to leadership not to get too comfortable. There’s still a lot of season left.”

Connor and Mark Scheifele each scored two goals as the Jets also won their seventh straight road game. They are the NHL’s last undefeated away team.

The Jets have a Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender in Connor Hellebuyck, who is 12-1-0 with three shutouts this season. Winnipeg’s balanced attack also features 11 players with at least 10 points. Connor leads the way with 22 points, including 11 goals. Scheifele is next with 21 points, including nine goals.

The Jets started with eight straight wins under coach Scott Arniel, lost 6-4 at home to Toronto on October 28th and have now won seven more.

“You would never have put it that way,” Arniel said of the Jets’ record. “We talked at the start of the season about picking up points in a difficult division in a difficult Western Conference. The boys certainly deserve every inch of it.”

Against the Rangers – last season’s Presidents’ Trophy winners – the Jets also had three assists from former Ranger defenseman Neal Pionk and two assists from Nikolaj Ehlers, as well as an insurance goal from another ex-Ranger Vladislav Namestnikov.

“We had some good backchecks that turned chances the other way, and we made sure they paid off,” said Scheifele, who scored the first goal after just 57 seconds at Madison Square Garden and then scored his second of the game Game scored 1-1: 08 of the third. “Playing with good players, going to the right places and supporting each other well – good things will happen.”

Arniel, a former Rangers assistant coach when Alain Vigneault was behind New York’s bench, relished the opportunity to record another important win against a difficult opponent as the Jets embarked on a three-game trip against elite foes the Eastern Conference began. The Jets visit the Tampa Bay Lightning and the reigning Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

“This league is about pressure, and if you’re good at it, you can make it difficult for your opponent,” Arniel said. “The biggest thing for our group is we did a great job on the resets.”