The Winnipeg Jets have now lost their fifth straight game, and a recurring issue has sprung up. Coach Scott Arniel was quick to point it out.
Their 2-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens also marked their fifth straight one-goal loss and their fifth straight game with three or fewer goals. Those were all winnable games if the Jets did just one thing more efficiently.
Via Russ Hobson of Global News, Arniel addressed the issue, saying:
“Probably the biggest thing for me, we didn’t have enough traffic on (Jacob) Fowler. We didn’t make it a little bit more difficult for him to kinda find pucks and that’s just something that we got to make sure that we do a better job at.”
The Jets, who averaged 27.3 shots per game over the past four contests, landed 34 on Canadiens’ goaltender Jacob Fowler, who made 33 saves. Fowler’s efforts made him the game’s First Star, as Isak Rosen was the only one in a Winnipeg uniform to get one past the Canadiens’ goaltender.
This also heavily implied the Jets weren’t getting much traffic in front of the net when their heavy hitters like Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, and Cole Perfetti were in the game. To make matters worse for Winnipeg, Connor, Scheifele, and Perfetti combined for 16 of Winnipeg’s 34 shots. Scheifele had seven of them in over 25 minutes of ice time.
Winnipeg Jets Still Not Finishing Sequences In The Offensive Zone
What is making this stretch more frustrating for Winnipeg is that goaltender Stuart Skinner is putting the Jets in prime position to win games. Skinner was the game’s Third Star, allowing just two goals and posting a .905 save percentage in Winnipeg’s loss on Sunday.
Heading into the game, Skinner had a .912 save percentage and a 2.67 GAA. This justifies Arniel’s statements to an even greater extent. The goaltending and defense are doing their job. But offensively, the Jets are not. And they haven’t been for five straight contests.
If this inability to finish and the occasional subpar play in the offensive zone continues for any length, the Jets will look back at their stretch in late October as one of the season’s turning points. And not a turning point for the better.
The Good News For The Jets
If there is a positive takeaway, it is that Arniel has identified what the Jets must start doing more. To be frank, it is a fixable and simple issue. Just create more traffic in front of the goaltender; make him second-guess where the puck is going, and capitalize.
It’s also not like the Winnipeg Jets don’t have the talent capable of scoring consistently. Connor and Perfetti have already proven they can. Scheifele is also a proven scorer, and Alex Iafallo has done a good job finding the net in 2026-27.
Overall, the Jets have scored over three goals in a game just once this season. That came during a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Wild. If the Jets cause chaos in front of the net and maybe look at film from that game against Minnesota, they may fix this issue sooner rather than later.
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