Jets crumble after early lead, hitting eight consecutive losses. Once league leaders, they now sit last, facing an historically brutal streak.
The Winnipeg Jets have continued their freewill through the Central Division, Western Conference and NHL as a whole in 2026.
Beginning the year with an all-Canadian matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Jets actually came out firing, and for once appeared to have put together quite a lead. Unfortunately they couldn't hold 2-0, 4-1 and 5-4 leads, ultimately falling 6-5 to the Leafs on an Auston Matthews three-goal performance.
For Winnipeg, it was the team's eighth-straight loss as has the Jets comfortably seated 32nd in the league of 32 teams - the exact opposite place they sat entering the year, when they were first place last January 1.
Since relocating to Winnipeg from Atlanta in 2011, the Jets had never lost more than seven games in a row. That statistic changed on Thursday with their eighth-straight loss (0-5-3).
On top of the recent struggle, Winnipeg has now lost 21 of its last 27 outings, meaning they have lost nearly four out of every five games played in the past two months.
The 15-20-4 record really doesn't seem as bad as a stand-alone statistic, but when Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota (all of the Central Division) are No. 1, 2 and 3 in the league, and when the only teams operating under .500 are four lowest placed teams in the league, the numbers hit a bit harder.
The Jets close out their three-game road trip in Ottawa on Saturday, before returning home for five-straight beginning on Tuesday vs. Vegas. Edmonton, Los Angeles, New Jersey and the Islanders all roll into Canada Life Centre over the next week. In fact, nine of the Jets' next 11 games will come at home - the once feared home venue that has produced just eight wins in 18 attempts this season.