DALLAS – Can the momentum from a perfect home stand travel 1,901 kilometres from Winnipeg to Dallas?
The Winnipeg Jets are about to find out.
Fresh off an emotionally charged 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, the Jets (8-8-3) hopped on a plane with their mentors for the annual Mentors’ Trip, which begins on Thursday against the Dallas Stars (10-5-2).
Of course, Winnipeg’s run of perfection goes even further back than just the victories over New Jersey, Tampa Bay, and Vancouver at Canada Life Centre this past week. The four-game streak also includes the historic four-goal comeback in Montreal to kick things off.
Add it all up, and the Jets have certainly had a flair for the dramatic lately.
“Even though I know it was a miraculous comeback in Montreal we were dominating that game because we were doing the right things,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “We were starting to play the way we needed to play without the puck. And when you do that, you’ve got the puck on your stick. And that’s what we’ve been doing a really good job of, being in the face of their skilled players, not letting them have the room to work.”
Arniel has often used the phrase “defend our way out of it” when referring to snapping the nine-game skid the Jets were on prior to this run of success. He feels the team’s leadership and players have embraced that.
In addition, Winnipeg’s offence has started to light the lamp with the regularity they expect.
“Confident is probably the best way to put it,” he said. “We had a lot of guys that hadn’t scored, a lot of guys that were squeezing their stick. Now you can tell there’s a lot of relief, a lot of weight off their shoulders, and they’re playing a little cleaner, a little bit more excited.”
The numbers back up what Arniel is saying. Over the course of the last four games the Jets have been on the positive side of the ledger (according to Natural Stat Trick) when it comes to five-on-five shot attempt percentage (50.31 percent), expected goals percentage (51.12 percent), and high-danger chances (53.25 percent).
With that, Winnipeg is tied with their opposition at a 9-9 score at five-on-five. Perhaps the biggest difference of late has been special teams, where the Jets have been sensational.
The power play has scored seven times on 17 opportunities while the penalty kill has been perfect the last three games, and 11/13 over the course of the win streak.
“We've kind of been on a good stretch right now,” said Dawson Mercer, who scored twice against his former team on Tuesday. “I think we just put the pedal to the floor right away from the get go. And we just kept on going with it.”
Perhaps having the mentors on the road this week will be exactly what the Jets need to turn the tide against the Stars.
All four games of the season series last year were close (including two of them going to overtime), but the Jets came up on the wrong end of all four. That’s a trend that continued into the first meeting of this season back on October 22. Winnipeg had a 2-1 lead until the 18-minute mark of the third, when Roope Hintz tied the game. Hintz then gave the Stars another overtime victory over the Jets with a breakaway tally 3:47 into the three-on-three period.
Mercer will be bringing his dad, Craig, on the trip. It has been quite the introduction to the team for him, as he was at the 2026 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic – his son’s first game with the Jets – and he’ll now join the club on the road.
“He's excited to get on the road and meet all the boys and their mentors too,” smiled Mercer.
Arniel could only grin when thinking about previous Mentors’ Trips he’s been on with the Jets.
“This is a great opportunity, whether it’s a dad or a mentor, somebody that’s helped you along in your journey to be a support for you, when you’re a young kid or even through being a pro,” he said. “There are things that happen and they’re there to support you all the time. It’s just a great situation for everybody to get together and have a little bit of fun while we’re out (on the road).”
