Another day, another chance for the Winnipeg Jets to extend their season opening winning streak.
They have already set the record for most wins to start the season by any iteration of the Jets, but with a win Monday, they will tie the longest win streak set by the Jets 1.0 during the 1984-85 season of nine straight.
“It’s been a great start for us; just got to keep it going,” said Jets forward Alex Iafallo. “We’re just trying to do the things right and play the right way in each zone. Everybody’s been doing a great job up and down the whole lineup.”
Winnipeg has a chance to grab that ninth win during a primetime matchup against a primetime opponent.
The Toronto Maple Leafs are in town and are trying to right the early-season ship.
They have lost four of their last five games and are currently on a three-game losing streak.
Even though Toronto hasn’t seen continued success to start the season, Winnipeg is prepared to deal with a tough, skilled team.
“It’s always fun playing the Leafs. Two Canadian teams going at it; it’s NHL hockey. It’s a lot of fun being out there. It’s going to be a good time out there, but it’s also going to be a battle.”
“Obviously, they travel well with their fans. So, it’s always a good building with our fans, so it’s going to be a good one,” said Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo.
As the only undefeated team left in the NHL, players know other teams want to be the ones to knock them off that pedestal.
Iafallo and DeMelo said the main thing the Jets need to worry about is sticking to their system.
“We just talk about it before a game and play the right way. I keep saying it, but everybody’s doing their job and giving it their all, so that’s what we need,” said Iafallo.
“I think at the end of the day, 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 meeting. We know that’s not our game. We know that they have a bit of a different philosophy now with (Craig) Berube there and trying to play a different way. But at the end of the day, it’s all about us and how we play,” said DeMelo.
Head Coach Scott Arniel also pointed out that it’s early in the season, so every team is still in a playoff race and has a chance to make the post-season, meaning they will be bringing their A game every night.
“You have to go and take it from teams. All these games have been really competitive,” said Arniel. “I like the fact that whether it’s the first shift or the last shift, that we’re going as hard as we possibly need to go and sticking with kind of how we want to continue to play.”
During this winning streak, the Jets have had to play comeback the majority of the time as they have allowed the first goal six of the eight games.
Arniel said while they don’t always want to play from behind, the most important thing is what happens at the end of the game.
“Don’t like to get down, but the opposition has a lot to say about that…but the end of the day, we always talk about 60- or 65-minute games, you never know how long it’s going to take and just stay in them,” said Arniel.
The chance for the Jets to tie some Winnipeg history will get going at 6:30 p.m. Monday.