This is a stats piece about a struggling Winnipeg Jets hockey team.

If you’re looking for ways to pile on as the Jets tumble down the standings, losing four of five and occasionally looking downright miserable, it’s easy to find statistics to support you. If you want to talk about the importance of secondary scoring, Saturday night’s win was all the proof you need.

But one win against the worst team in the Western Conference doesn’t change the Jets’ most important trend.

Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Gabriel Vilardi and Josh Morrissey have scored more points in Winnipeg’s last 10 games than every other player on the team combined. Winnipeg’s second-line centre, Jonathan Toews, has been outscored 7-2 at even strength in his last 10 games, while scoring only three points in 13 November games.

Toews isn’t alone in his struggles, though; more than half of the Jets roster scored three or fewer points in November, while defencemen Neal Pionk, Logan Stanley and Dylan DeMelo have outscored Toews, Gustav Nyquist, Tanner Pearson and Cole Koepke — Winnipeg’s four most notable UFA signings — in that same time frame. Eric Comrie and Thomas Milic aren’t good enough to make up for that on their own, the way Connor Hellebuyck so often is.

It all feels like rearranging the same information to take the same swipes at an offensively challenged team. Winnipeg has three players — Connor, Scheifele and Morrissey — who can break games open and a collection of players who won’t cheat you but need more help breaking through. I don’t question effort level with respect to anyone on Toews’, Lowry’s or Namestnikov’s lines, despite their lack of production.

But it hasn’t been good enough. The Jets are still looking up at the playoff cut line after Saturday’s win. They’re still 4-6-0 in their last 10 games, despite Stanley Cup ambitions. So what can we learn about this year’s Jets? Why is this happening?

There’s insight to be had about this team beyond “they’re old” or “nobody is scoring.” Let’s start with a quick conversation with head coach Scott Arniel and a look at why secondary scoring has fallen off quite as badly as it has.

The Jets have gone from a top-10 team at five-on-five last season to one of the worst, whether you measure quality by zone time, shots or scoring chances.

Via Natural Stat Trick, Winnipeg has the third-worst percentage of shots and expected goals this season. Via the NHL’s tracking data, it’s spent the eighth-most time in its own zone at even strength. You know this by watching it: The Jets have gotten hemmed in their own zone for long stretches in ways the last team avoided, while so many more of their offensive attacks are one-and-done this season than last.

The idea of Lowry’s line spending 45 seconds cycling in the offensive zone, then going for a line change, then watching from the bench as the next line carved through the offensive zone in the same fashion, used to be routine. Now, hand-off shifts by any line stand out because of their rarity, such as the eight minutes toward the end of the second period against Washington, when the Jets looked like a great team again.

So why the lack of goals?

I put that question to Arniel this week, asking about the role of Winnipeg’s breakout problems in the Jets’ lack of sustained offensive pressure. I believe that part of Winnipeg’s offensive struggles is about what happens in the offensive zone — scoring chances that don’t get finished or perimeter play caused by a lack of speed. I think a lot of it is about the quality of exit passes Winnipeg’s forwards get from its defencemen.

My preamble referenced the importance of Winnipeg’s first pass.

“We showed some examples of that this morning,” Arniel said. “Our five-man breakouts, we did a great job of getting to our blue line. And then it was the next play after that. So I don’t always call it the first pass. I call it the next pass.”

Arniel said Winnipeg’s centres have done a good job of getting low, picking up the first pass from their defenceman. The Jets’ breakout problems have come after successful passes from D to centremen die on that next player’s stick, whether they tried to skate it out or pass it off to a winger.

“Our offence starts that way,” Arniel said. “If you can push a team back on their heels because of the rush and you don’t have to dump the puck in all the time — or start again and regroup and do it again — that’s tilting the ice. That’s making the team play in the other end of the rink.”

Garret Hohl has been tracking Winnipeg Jets zone exits and other microstats at The Five Hohl.

I put my theory to him, based on Winnipeg’s struggles and Arniel’s commentary, that Winnipeg’s breakout issues are costing the team real goals. He sent me a ton of information and insight, but let’s start with this look at Winnipeg’s year-over-year decline in controlled zone exits per game.

This year’s Jets are getting out of their own zone with possession of the puck eight fewer times per game than last year’s version did. They’re chipping it out to release the pressure (without icing it) roughly the same amount as before. They’re getting stuffed one extra time per game, whether in the form of a turnover or a breakout attempt that turns into a battle situation.

That first number is a big one. We know that controlled zone exits are the gold standard of breakout situations because they help in two ways at once: the opportunity to create offence and the opportunity to avoid defending, all because Winnipeg still has the puck. Arniel put it plainly while talking about tilting the ice.

Hohl’s math can help us quantify the impact in a little more detail. Each breakout type has a different value. We know clean exits with possession are better than chipping it out. We know chipping it out is better than turning it over. These things are obvious, but Hohl’s tracking and his math help us create an “expected shots” value for each type of breakout. The combination of video tracking and analytics can give an “expected shots” number for each type of breakout — how likely each type of zone exit is to turn into a Jets shot.

Winnipeg’s breakout problems are costing it shots, scoring chances and real goals compared to last year’s team.

Winnipeg’s forwards and defencemen are suffering this season, but the D’s numbers have dropped off dramatically. It’s leading to roughly three fewer Jets shots per game, based on Hohl’s math, on a team that’s taking five fewer shots per game than the one that came before it.

It’s interesting, isn’t it? A team that’s removed Nikolaj Ehlers, Mason Appleton and Rasmus Kupari and replaced them with Toews, Gustav Nyquist and Pearson might expect a bigger drop off from its forwards. It’s possible that some of the forwards’ impacts are affecting the D numbers — a defenceman can only make a pass if there’s someone in a good spot to pass it to, but I think it’s pointing at a bigger problem among Jets defencemen.

With Samberg hurt to start the year and Pionk hurt now, the Jets have had to push a lot of defencemen above their ideal playing tier.

Luke Schenn, Logan Stanley, Haydn Fleury and Colin Miller have the four worst controlled-exit percentages on the team. Schenn has been a healthy scratch of late, but his propensity for dusting the puck off and then failing to hit his exit pass helped contribute to long defensive zone shifts in the 16 games he played. (That said, it was Schenn’s exit pass that Nino Niederreiter collected off his skate on the way to scoring Winnipeg’s second goal on Saturday night.) Stanley has impressed in key moments and may help on the third pairing but was outmatched alongside Pionk in the season.

Let’s connect this idea back to Winnipeg’s lack of secondary scoring. Here are Winnipeg’s defencemen and their zone exit numbers. Note that 20 games have been tracked, but only one involving Salomonsson.

Wouldn’t it make sense that forwards who get their exit passes from Morrissey have better offensive numbers than the other Jets? Lo and behold, Morrissey has shared roughly 200 minutes of icetime with each of Connor, Scheifele and Vilardi and not as many as 100 minutes with any other Jets forward.

Samberg, whose controlled exit numbers are second best, has only played eight games, while Salomonsson’s sample is way too small for any conclusions. (He’s been beaten up in terms of goals against so far while making a high rate of successful exit passes.)

Here’s a reminder of what a clean exit pass can do, giving Niederreiter credit for the way he handled Schenn’s pass off his skate.

LOOKING FOR THE COOKIES 🍪 pic.twitter.com/QsbxMN3yPv

— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) November 30, 2025

What does it all mean? I think there is a real and dangerous temptation to blame Winnipeg’s lack of offence solely on the forwards who aren’t finishing their scoring chances. It would be a lot wiser to consider why the Jets aren’t generating scoring chances at all — and that’s a problem that starts well before Cole Perfetti, Toews or whoever gets stopped by a goaltender. Scoring chances turn into goals in the long run, even if failed chances burn in the memory right now. Perfetti’s relief-inducing goal against Nashville is proof; it came after multiple scoring chances in multiple recent Jets games.

The bigger problem is all of the chances you’re not seeing happen at all. A lack of transition could sink the Jets’ playoff chances far more effectively than a lack of finishing will, because transition problems are way more likely to last.

Winnipeg could use a prime-aged Blake Wheeler or Nikolaj Ehlers or any top-end forward who can single-handedly dominate transition hockey. The team’s more pressing need — by far — is another defenceman who can make stops and then move the puck.

Despite his best efforts, Adam Lowry could not hold back the tears.

And you could hardly blame him, given the cruel set of circumstances that had just unfolded.

The captain of the Winnipeg Jets was sitting at the podium and was doing his best to summarize the wave of emotions that had taken place during the previous 13 hours or so.

Not only had the Jets spent a good chunk of the day lending support to teammate Mark Scheifele after his father Brad passed away at the age of 68, this memorable season came to an end after a 2-1 overtime loss in Game 6 to the Dallas Stars inside American Airlines Center.

To add to the emotional toll, the game ended on a Stars power play goal from Thomas Harley that came with 13 seconds left in a tripping minor to Scheifele, who got his stick into the skates of Sam Steel to prevent a clear-cut breakaway in the waning seconds of regulation time on a play that could have been called a penalty shot.

“It’s just an awful day for him (emotionally). You want to give him the strength, you want to get that kill so bad. We just couldn’t do it,” said Lowry. “Heartbreaking. We felt like we had a great regular season, we felt like we had a team that could go on a run. For it to end the way it did and everything else surrounding the day, it’s just a lot of emotion.

“It’s tough to put into words what Mark went through. Gets a huge goal for us, plays a heck of a game, and it ends the way it does. Just emotional, heavy. Really proud of the group we had. The commitment, the no quit. A lot of things that a good team needs. We ran into a great Dallas team. We couldn’t find that extra one and that was the difference.”

Lowry showed his tremendous leadership during the course of the day, beginning with his glowing words about what type of person Brad Scheifele was when he spoke to reporters at the arena in the morning.

After the overtime winner was scored, there was Lowry heading to the box to console Scheifele.

And after Scheifele made his way through the handshake line, Lowry waited to provide one more tap on the shin pads before the Jets alternate captain made his way off the ice for the final time this season.

“We’re there for him. we’re a family, Scheif’s a big part of our family, and we’re here for him, no matter what,” said Jets defenceman Neal Pionk. “So that’s a ‘we weren’t leaving the ice without him’ kind of thing. Did everything we could to get him and his family a win, just didn’t pull through.”

The Jets weren’t the only ones offering support for Scheifele.

While sharking hands, each of the Stars players and coaches stopped to say something to Scheifele and many provided an extra hug for the Jets’ centre.

One of the longest embraces was with Stars captain Jamie Benn, the same player who caught Scheifele with a stiff punch to the face in the third period of Game 5.

“I just told him that I respected him as a competitor, and as a hockey player,” said Benn. “You can grow to not like guys throughout a playoff series, but when it’s all over, I told him I respect him as a player.

“I wanted to let him know that it took a lot of courage for him to play today in a tough situation. I’m not sure too many guys would have done that in his situation. So, I respected it. I know every guy in our room respected it, and our whole organization respected it.”

That respect was noticeable and you can be sure that Scheifele appreciated it a great deal.

Let’s take a closer look at this one:

THIS ONE’S FOR DAD

Scheifele endured one of the toughest things a person can go through, finding out that his father had passed away late Friday night.

Despite having to deal with the emotional toll of losing someone that was so close to him, Scheifele didn’t hesitate to suit up with his teammates in Game 6.

Scheifele opened the scoring on Saturday, getting to the front of the net and depositing a rebound through the five-hole of Stars goalie Jake Oettinger after a shot by Kyle Connor at 5:28 of the second period.

Scheifele’s celebration and smile as his teammates gathered around him after the goal told you how much the moment meant to him.

“For him to go through what he had to go through, and perform the way he did, so proud of him,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “And his dad would be so proud of him. He wanted to win so bad. The circumstances, so, so tough. Being in a situation like that, I couldn’t imagine it. The pro that he is, the leader that he is, the year that he had with us, his dad and his family would be very proud of him.”

The goal wouldn’t have happened without an excellent play down low by Gabe Vilardi, whose spin move against Stars blue-liner Lian Bischel helped create the passing lane to find Connor for the initial shot.

THE EQUALIZER

The Stars pulled even at 11:12 of the second period on a rebound goal of their own.

Stars D-man Thomas Harley took a low shot from a sharp angle and Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck kicked out a juicy rebound that found the stick of Sam Steel.

Steel, who has been energetic throughout the series, buried his shot high to the glove side of Hellebuyck, setting the stage for an exhilarating finish.

THE (HIGHLIGHT-REEL) SAVES

This was an outstanding goalie battle, with two Team USA netminders going up against one another, with tremendous saves being made at each end of the ice to ensure extra time was required to determine a winner.

During the third period, Lowry found Mason Appleton for what looked like an empty net, but Oettinger made a sprawling glove save to keep the game knotted 1-1.

Appleton looked to the sky in disbelief after the stop, which represented the best unconverted scoring chance the Jets had in the game.

Then, with roughly 2:30 to go in regulation time, Hellebuyck kicked out his left pad to prevent Mikael Granlund from scoring on a backhand rebound chance.

Like the team in front of him, Hellebuyck lost a 10th consecutive road playoff game, but he took a big step toward quieting the narrative about his play away from Canada Life Centre.

THE KEY PLAY

Thomas Harley blasted home a one-timer at 1:33 of the first overtime to deliver the knockout punch.

THE THREE STARS

1. Thomas Harley, Stars, Scored the series clinching goal and added an assist in 25 minutes of work.

2. Mark Scheifele, Jets, Scored the lone goal for the visitors, showing incredible strength while dealing with a monumental personal loss.

3. Jake Oettinger, Stars, Finished with 22 saves in what was another extraordinary effort.

THE INJURY

The Jets lost top blue-liner Josh Morrissey with 4:53 to go in the second period with what looked to be a left knee injury.

Morrissey was battling with Mikko Rantanen in the defensive zone and as he was trying to get some leverage on the Stars winger, the Jets’ D-man tripped the Stars’ winger.

As Rantanen was falling to the ice, Morrissey’s knee got caught underneath the Finnish forward, leaving him in discomfort as he left the ice.

Morrissey was holding his left knee and let out an audible expletive as he made his way to the bench. Once he had a quick word with Jets head athletic therapist Rob Milette, Morrissey had to be helped as he made his way down the tunnel to the locker room for further evaluation.

Following the game, Arniel didn’t get into specifics but some healing will be required, even if the full severity of the injury is not yet known.

“It’s not good,” said Arniel. “We’ll obviously get him home. He’s banged up pretty good.”

The Jets finished the game with five D-men, something they had to do in Game 7 against the St. Louis Blues after Morrissey left the game after three shifts with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.

Prior to his departure on Saturday, Morrissey was flying. In just under 15 minutes of ice time, he had one shot on goal and five shot attempts, two hits and four blocked shots.

EXTRA, EXTRA

Special teams were a massive story in this series, as the Jets were outscored 7-3 in that department. The Harley goal allowed the Stars to finish seven-for-19 (31.8 per cent) on the power play, while the Jets were held without a man-advantage on Saturday and finished three-for-21 (14.2 per cent).

With Morrissey leaving the game, Pionk finished the contest with the most minutes of any Jets player, taking 34 shifts for 24:47 of action. Dylan Samberg was next at 23:35.

For the third time this series, the Stars opted to dress 11 forwards and seven defencemen, giving them some insurance with Miro Heiskanen working his way up to full speed while getting Rantanen some additional playing time. Heiskanen was up to 23:40 in Game 6, while Rantanen led the Stars’ forwards at 24:23.

Despite his best efforts, Adam Lowry could not hold back the tears.

And you could hardly blame him, given the cruel set of circumstances that had just unfolded.

The captain of the Winnipeg Jets was sitting at the podium and was doing his best to summarize the wave of emotions that had taken place during the previous 13 hours or so.

Not only had the Jets spent a good chunk of the day lending support to teammate Mark Scheifele after his father Brad passed away at the age of 68, this memorable season came to an end after a 2-1 overtime loss in Game 6 to the Dallas Stars inside American Airlines Center.

To add to the emotional toll, the game ended on a Stars power play goal from Thomas Harley that came with 13 seconds left in a tripping minor to Scheifele, who got his stick into the skates of Sam Steel to prevent a clear-cut breakaway in the waning seconds of regulation time on a play that could have been called a penalty shot.

“It’s just an awful day for him (emotionally). You want to give him the strength, you want to get that kill so bad. We just couldn’t do it,” said Lowry. “Heartbreaking. We felt like we had a great regular season, we felt like we had a team that could go on a run. For it to end the way it did and everything else surrounding the day, it’s just a lot of emotion.

“It’s tough to put into words what Mark went through. Gets a huge goal for us, plays a heck of a game, and it ends the way it does. Just emotional, heavy. Really proud of the group we had. The commitment, the no quit. A lot of things that a good team needs. We ran into a great Dallas team. We couldn’t find that extra one and that was the difference.”

Lowry showed his tremendous leadership during the course of the day, beginning with his glowing words about what type of person Brad Scheifele was when he spoke to reporters at the arena in the morning.

After the overtime winner was scored, there was Lowry heading to the box to console Scheifele.

And after Scheifele made his way through the handshake line, Lowry waited to provide one more tap on the shin pads before the Jets alternate captain made his way off the ice for the final time this season.

“We’re there for him. we’re a family, Scheif’s a big part of our family, and we’re here for him, no matter what,” said Jets defenceman Neal Pionk. “So that’s a ‘we weren’t leaving the ice without him’ kind of thing. Did everything we could to get him and his family a win, just didn’t pull through.”

The Jets weren’t the only ones offering support for Scheifele.

While sharking hands, each of the Stars players and coaches stopped to say something to Scheifele and many provided an extra hug for the Jets’ centre.

One of the longest embraces was with Stars captain Jamie Benn, the same player who caught Scheifele with a stiff punch to the face in the third period of Game 5.

“I just told him that I respected him as a competitor, and as a hockey player,” said Benn. “You can grow to not like guys throughout a playoff series, but when it’s all over, I told him I respect him as a player.

“I wanted to let him know that it took a lot of courage for him to play today in a tough situation. I’m not sure too many guys would have done that in his situation. So, I respected it. I know every guy in our room respected it, and our whole organization respected it.”

That respect was noticeable and you can be sure that Scheifele appreciated it a great deal.

Let’s take a closer look at this one:

THIS ONE’S FOR DAD

Scheifele endured one of the toughest things a person can go through, finding out that his father had passed away late Friday night.

Despite having to deal with the emotional toll of losing someone that was so close to him, Scheifele didn’t hesitate to suit up with his teammates in Game 6.

Scheifele opened the scoring on Saturday, getting to the front of the net and depositing a rebound through the five-hole of Stars goalie Jake Oettinger after a shot by Kyle Connor at 5:28 of the second period.

Scheifele’s celebration and smile as his teammates gathered around him after the goal told you how much the moment meant to him.

“For him to go through what he had to go through, and perform the way he did, so proud of him,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “And his dad would be so proud of him. He wanted to win so bad. The circumstances, so, so tough. Being in a situation like that, I couldn’t imagine it. The pro that he is, the leader that he is, the year that he had with us, his dad and his family would be very proud of him.”

The goal wouldn’t have happened without an excellent play down low by Gabe Vilardi, whose spin move against Stars blue-liner Lian Bischel helped create the passing lane to find Connor for the initial shot.

THE EQUALIZER

The Stars pulled even at 11:12 of the second period on a rebound goal of their own.

Stars D-man Thomas Harley took a low shot from a sharp angle and Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck kicked out a juicy rebound that found the stick of Sam Steel.

Steel, who has been energetic throughout the series, buried his shot high to the glove side of Hellebuyck, setting the stage for an exhilarating finish.

THE (HIGHLIGHT-REEL) SAVES

This was an outstanding goalie battle, with two Team USA netminders going up against one another, with tremendous saves being made at each end of the ice to ensure extra time was required to determine a winner.

During the third period, Lowry found Mason Appleton for what looked like an empty net, but Oettinger made a sprawling glove save to keep the game knotted 1-1.

Appleton looked to the sky in disbelief after the stop, which represented the best unconverted scoring chance the Jets had in the game.

Then, with roughly 2:30 to go in regulation time, Hellebuyck kicked out his left pad to prevent Mikael Granlund from scoring on a backhand rebound chance.

Like the team in front of him, Hellebuyck lost a 10th consecutive road playoff game, but he took a big step toward quieting the narrative about his play away from Canada Life Centre.

THE KEY PLAY

Thomas Harley blasted home a one-timer at 1:33 of the first overtime to deliver the knockout punch.

THE THREE STARS

1. Thomas Harley, Stars, Scored the series clinching goal and added an assist in 25 minutes of work.

2. Mark Scheifele, Jets, Scored the lone goal for the visitors, showing incredible strength while dealing with a monumental personal loss.

3. Jake Oettinger, Stars, Finished with 22 saves in what was another extraordinary effort.

THE INJURY

The Jets lost top blue-liner Josh Morrissey with 4:53 to go in the second period with what looked to be a left knee injury.

Morrissey was battling with Mikko Rantanen in the defensive zone and as he was trying to get some leverage on the Stars winger, the Jets’ D-man tripped the Stars’ winger.

As Rantanen was falling to the ice, Morrissey’s knee got caught underneath the Finnish forward, leaving him in discomfort as he left the ice.

Morrissey was holding his left knee and let out an audible expletive as he made his way to the bench. Once he had a quick word with Jets head athletic therapist Rob Milette, Morrissey had to be helped as he made his way down the tunnel to the locker room for further evaluation.

Following the game, Arniel didn’t get into specifics but some healing will be required, even if the full severity of the injury is not yet known.

“It’s not good,” said Arniel. “We’ll obviously get him home. He’s banged up pretty good.”

The Jets finished the game with five D-men, something they had to do in Game 7 against the St. Louis Blues after Morrissey left the game after three shifts with what appeared to be a shoulder injury.

Prior to his departure on Saturday, Morrissey was flying. In just under 15 minutes of ice time, he had one shot on goal and five shot attempts, two hits and four blocked shots.

EXTRA, EXTRA

Special teams were a massive story in this series, as the Jets were outscored 7-3 in that department. The Harley goal allowed the Stars to finish seven-for-19 (31.8 per cent) on the power play, while the Jets were held without a man-advantage on Saturday and finished three-for-21 (14.2 per cent).

With Morrissey leaving the game, Pionk finished the contest with the most minutes of any Jets player, taking 34 shifts for 24:47 of action. Dylan Samberg was next at 23:35.

For the third time this series, the Stars opted to dress 11 forwards and seven defencemen, giving them some insurance with Miro Heiskanen working his way up to full speed while getting Rantanen some additional playing time. Heiskanen was up to 23:40 in Game 6, while Rantanen led the Stars’ forwards at 24:23.

Benn was fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for roughing Scheifele in Game 5 of their second-round series on Thursday night, the NHL's Department of Player Safety announced Friday.

Will it take a three-game winning streak or a series of three one-game winning streaks to keep the season alive?

No matter how you slice it, psychologically or otherwise, the Winnipeg Jets have reached the fork in the road where the room for error has transformed from slim to none.

By dropping the 3-1 decision to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night, the Jets will face elimination for the second time in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel, back right, yells at his players on the ice in the third period of Game 4 of their second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Dallas, Tuesday.

By now, everyone knows how Game 7 against the St. Louis Blues turned out – thanks in part to the Manitoba Miracle that literally and figuratively brought a province to its feet, first in disbelief after a pair of six-on-five goals with the goalie on the bench in favour of an extra attacker sent the game to a fourth period.

Then, in exaltation after Jets captain Adam Lowry helped his team advance to the second round for the first time since 2021.

So, it’s clear the Jets can handle the pressure cooker that comes with putting your collective season on the line.

The issue now is whether or not they can avoid a knockout punch on three separate occasions in order to reach the NHLs Final Four.

Never mind the daunting nature of the task at hand.

The Jets can’t post a three-game winning streak without getting the first one and the opportunity to do so comes on Thursday at Canada Life Centre, where the Jets are 5-1 this spring – including a tidy 4-0 victory in Game 2 that left the series even.

A team that has prided itself on its ability to turn the page after debriefing the night before will once again try to achieve that goal.

Unlike most of the previous four road games played in the playoffs, the video session won’t resemble sifting through the rubble and seeking positive reinforcement.

By generating a total of 72 shot attempts on Tuesday, the Jets were able to create enough quality looks to win the hockey game.

But a sparkling performance from Stars goalie Jake Oettinger, who made 31 saves, limited the Jets to a single and solitary goal.

That goal came on a heads-up play at the end of a Jets’ power play by Nikolaj Ehlers, who was actually looking to pass the puck to the backdoor before he caught Oettinger cheating ever so slightly.

It was the only misstep of the contest for Oettinger, who has been the best goalie in this series through four games – even with Connor Hellebuyck recording a 21-save shutout in Game 2.

This was a night when the much-ballyhooed Jets’ offence let down its Vezina-winning goaltender, not the other way around.

What is also true is that Hellebuyck gave up a goal on a snapshot from distance in the first period from Mikael Granlund that needed to be stopped.

When it wasn’t, it left the Jets in a precarious position of chasing the game – something that has become far too familiar for them in this series.

Outside of Game 2, the Jets have been playing from behind far too often and that’s a big part of the reason they’ve ended up on the losing side of the ledger three times through four games.

The level of urgency is sure to come up for the Jets.

There isn’t a single player that is ready for this dream season to end, something that was apparent in the aftermath of Tuesday’s loss.

“We know what the message is,” Hellebuyck told reporters when asked about what might have been said in the room by Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “We know what the stakes are.”

Arniel, himself, had a simple message when asked about the mentality required.

“Real simple,” he explained. “Don’t lose your last game.”

That could be easier said than done, considering this edition of the Stars has yet to lose consecutive games through 11 outings in these Stanley Cup playoffs and are a highly motivated bunch after being eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference final last spring.

Dallas has been knocking at the door for years and is trying to get over the top for the first time since 1999, when that Stars’ championship team included Winnipeggers Mike Keane and Grant Ledyard and future Hall of Famer Eddie Belfour of Carman.

The Jets are chasing the first NHL title in franchise history and laid the groundwork for this run by putting together an outstanding regular season, one that resulted in a first Central Division crown, a Western Conference title and a Presidents’ Trophy.

Those experiences, coupled with some of the disappointments from the prior two playoff losses to the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche were supposed to regenerate some of that scar tissue – something Jets centre Mark Scheifele touched on prior to the start of the postseason.

There’s little doubt the Jets are battling and have put some of those valuable lessons to use here, but the road to the ultimate goal includes 16 victories and so far, this group has managed five.

Going out with a whimper simply isn’t an option for the Jets, not after all of the growth they’ve shown over the course of the past eight months or so.

This is a team that started the season with eight consecutive victories, lost a game and then rattled off seven straight wins.

The 15-1 start was the best in NHL history and essentially punched the Jets ticket to the playoffs in November.

As they managed the highs and lows of the marathon campaign, the Jets battled through adversity and pushed back all comers when it came to the division, the conference and first overall.

The Jets know what they look like when they’re at their very best and right now, they’re very best is exactly what’s going to be required to keep this season alive.

“Absolutely, you need to win four games to move on,” said Ehlers. “They’re at three, we’re at one. It can’t be more simple than that. We need to win.

“And I think with the crowd that we have at home, the amount of energy that they give to us every single game, (we) want to repay that by playing another few games in Winnipeg.”

Will it take a three-game winning streak or a series of three one-game winning streaks to keep the season alive?

No matter how you slice it, psychologically or otherwise, the Winnipeg Jets have reached the fork in the road where the room for error has transformed from slim to none.

By dropping the 3-1 decision to the Dallas Stars on Tuesday night, the Jets will face elimination for the second time in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.

Winnipeg Jets head coach Scott Arniel, back right, yells at his players on the ice in the third period of Game 4 of their second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Dallas, Tuesday.

By now, everyone knows how Game 7 against the St. Louis Blues turned out – thanks in part to the Manitoba Miracle that literally and figuratively brought a province to its feet, first in disbelief after a pair of six-on-five goals with the goalie on the bench in favour of an extra attacker sent the game to a fourth period.

Then, in exaltation after Jets captain Adam Lowry helped his team advance to the second round for the first time since 2021.

So, it’s clear the Jets can handle the pressure cooker that comes with putting your collective season on the line.

The issue now is whether or not they can avoid a knockout punch on three separate occasions in order to reach the NHLs Final Four.

Never mind the daunting nature of the task at hand.

The Jets can’t post a three-game winning streak without getting the first one and the opportunity to do so comes on Thursday at Canada Life Centre, where the Jets are 5-1 this spring – including a tidy 4-0 victory in Game 2 that left the series even.

A team that has prided itself on its ability to turn the page after debriefing the night before will once again try to achieve that goal.

Unlike most of the previous four road games played in the playoffs, the video session won’t resemble sifting through the rubble and seeking positive reinforcement.

By generating a total of 72 shot attempts on Tuesday, the Jets were able to create enough quality looks to win the hockey game.

But a sparkling performance from Stars goalie Jake Oettinger, who made 31 saves, limited the Jets to a single and solitary goal.

That goal came on a heads-up play at the end of a Jets’ power play by Nikolaj Ehlers, who was actually looking to pass the puck to the backdoor before he caught Oettinger cheating ever so slightly.

It was the only misstep of the contest for Oettinger, who has been the best goalie in this series through four games – even with Connor Hellebuyck recording a 21-save shutout in Game 2.

This was a night when the much-ballyhooed Jets’ offence let down its Vezina-winning goaltender, not the other way around.

What is also true is that Hellebuyck gave up a goal on a snapshot from distance in the first period from Mikael Granlund that needed to be stopped.

When it wasn’t, it left the Jets in a precarious position of chasing the game – something that has become far too familiar for them in this series.

Outside of Game 2, the Jets have been playing from behind far too often and that’s a big part of the reason they’ve ended up on the losing side of the ledger three times through four games.

The level of urgency is sure to come up for the Jets.

There isn’t a single player that is ready for this dream season to end, something that was apparent in the aftermath of Tuesday’s loss.

“We know what the message is,” Hellebuyck told reporters when asked about what might have been said in the room by Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “We know what the stakes are.”

Arniel, himself, had a simple message when asked about the mentality required.

“Real simple,” he explained. “Don’t lose your last game.”

That could be easier said than done, considering this edition of the Stars has yet to lose consecutive games through 11 outings in these Stanley Cup playoffs and are a highly motivated bunch after being eliminated by the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference final last spring.

Dallas has been knocking at the door for years and is trying to get over the top for the first time since 1999, when that Stars’ championship team included Winnipeggers Mike Keane and Grant Ledyard and future Hall of Famer Eddie Belfour of Carman.

The Jets are chasing the first NHL title in franchise history and laid the groundwork for this run by putting together an outstanding regular season, one that resulted in a first Central Division crown, a Western Conference title and a Presidents’ Trophy.

Those experiences, coupled with some of the disappointments from the prior two playoff losses to the Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche were supposed to regenerate some of that scar tissue – something Jets centre Mark Scheifele touched on prior to the start of the postseason.

There’s little doubt the Jets are battling and have put some of those valuable lessons to use here, but the road to the ultimate goal includes 16 victories and so far, this group has managed five.

Going out with a whimper simply isn’t an option for the Jets, not after all of the growth they’ve shown over the course of the past eight months or so.

This is a team that started the season with eight consecutive victories, lost a game and then rattled off seven straight wins.

The 15-1 start was the best in NHL history and essentially punched the Jets ticket to the playoffs in November.

As they managed the highs and lows of the marathon campaign, the Jets battled through adversity and pushed back all comers when it came to the division, the conference and first overall.

The Jets know what they look like when they’re at their very best and right now, they’re very best is exactly what’s going to be required to keep this season alive.

“Absolutely, you need to win four games to move on,” said Ehlers. “They’re at three, we’re at one. It can’t be more simple than that. We need to win.

“And I think with the crowd that we have at home, the amount of energy that they give to us every single game, (we) want to repay that by playing another few games in Winnipeg.”