Carter Brooks Winnipeg Jets Postgame Report There is no hotter team in the NHL than the Winnipeg Jets. No, they haven't won the most games in a row, and yes, there are a couple teams currently ranked higher in the league-wide standings, but over each team's last 10 games, Winnipeg is simply the best. And the stats back it up. Winnipeg currently sits behind Vancouver, Vegas, New York and Boston in the overall standings, points-wise, but not by much. Through 32 games, the Jets have a 20-9-3 record for 43 points. They own an 8-1-1 record in their last 10, which is tops in the league over that span. Their goal differential is No. 3 at +27, while their goals-against is tied with Boston for second in the league (behind just Los Angeles). Winnipeg lost top goal scorer Kyle Connor to a knee injury on December 10th and has gone 5-1-1 since he was helped off the ice in Anaheim. In his absence, the team has scored an average of four goals per game, and has points in nine of its last 10 games. Since the Jets lost 5-2 to Vegas on November 1st, they have played 22 games and have not given up more than three goals on any occasion (three goals-against seven times, two goals-against 10 times, one goal-against three times, zero goals-against once). Over the last 16 days, Winnipeg has beaten Boston (second place), Los Angeles (fifth) and Colorado (eighth) four total times, by a total of 20-7. In this past stretch of 10 games (8-1-1), the Jets have outscored their opponents 37-18. Against the Eastern Conference, Winnipeg is 9-0-3. Individually, the Jets have a number of players who have excelled statistically, with Gabriel Vilardi and Connor Hellebuyck leading the way. Since returning from his injury, Vilardi has become the player that general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff could have only hoped for when dealing away Pierre-Luc Dubois this past June. Vilardi has picked up 12 points over his past five games, while also scoring seven goals in his last seven games played. He is the eighth player since the Jets returned to Winnipeg to have a goal-scoring streak of five or more games. Over the month of December, Hellebuyck has gone 6-0-1 with a 1.86 goals against average and a .934 save percentage. His counterpart Laurent Brossoit hasn't been too shabby himself, going 2-1-0 with a stellar 1.89 goals against average and a .951 save percentage. Hellebuyck is now 16-6-2 with a 2.37 goals against average and a .918 save percentage. Earlier this month, Hellebuyck surpassed Ryan Miller's 252 wins to become the No. 1 United States-born goaltender in terms of victories over his first nine NHL seasons, surpassing names such as Jonathan Quick, Tom Barrasso, and Mike Richter. In his 24 games, Hellebuyck has given up just 57 goals against, 12.9 less than the expected 69.88 goals according to Money Puck. He saves over half an expected goal per game so far this season, and has made 18 quality starts in 24 appearances. Winnipeg returns to action following its holiday break on Wednesday, December 27th in Chicago, before taking on fellow Central Division rival Minnesota in a home-and-home on the 30th and 31st.
