Where Are the Winnipeg Jets Going Wrong?

By Taylor Landau

Game seven of the Winnipeg Jets versus St. Louis Blues series was nothing short of a miracle for the Manitoba-based team, but that same energy hasn't carried over to their second round series against the Dallas Stars. What is it that's not connecting for the Winnipeg Jets? What do they need to improve if they want to come back from a 3-1 series deficit?

Connor Hellebuyck hasn't played to his Vezina-winner potential.

Connor Hellebuyck in goal (photo via GAME ON Hockey).

The most obvious answer to the Jets' woes, which the entire hockey world seems to be talking about, is goaltender Connor Hellebuyck's performance in the playoffs. Between both the Blues and Stars series, he's let in 37 goals (26 against St. Louis, 11 against Dallas so far). His save percentage sits at .851 with his goals allowed average at 3.48. He's been pulled out of several games and replaced with backup goaltender Eric Comrie as well. Overall, it's been a tough playoffs for Hellebuyck.

That being said, there's still hope yet. The Jets' only win this series came from a 4-0 shutout, which gave the team and fans a huge boost in confidence for the goaltender. Hellebuyck hasn't given up more than three goals in wins. Not to mention, he kept them in the game during double overtime of game seven until Adam Lowry scored the game winner. If he can find his groove, the Jets could potentially see a comeback.

Offense across the board is low.

Dylan DeMelo, Vlad Namestnikov, Gabriel Vilardi, and Kyle Connor celebrate a goal against St. Louis (photo via CBC).

While goaltending hasn't been the team's strongest suit, neither has offense. In this second round series, Winnipeg has a combined total of nine goals across four games. The only players to score thus far are Nikolaj Ehlers (3), Nino Niederreiter (2), Kyle Connor (1), Adam Lowry (1), Gabriel Vilardi (1), and Mark Scheifele (1). Not a single Jets defenseman has scored. Almost the entirety of the bottom six hasn't either. Going back to the first round, St. Louis outscored the Jets 27-21, so offense has generally been an issue for them this postseason, even when they won the series.

If the Jets can find that offensive spark, they could make this series more interesting. Despite the score on Tuesday night, the Jets dominated the offensive zone, but couldn't get the puck in the back of the net due to Stars' goaltender Jake Oettinger's stellar performance. The team as a collective needs to find ways to get pucks by Dallas if they want to see another round.

Special teams took a hit.

Special teams coaches Dean Chynoweth and Davis Payne (photo via NHL.com).

The Jets' special teams units were one of their strongest assets during the regular season. Unfortunately, they've taken a bit of a backseat this playoffs. In particular, the power play has not been up to par. In the 2024-25 postseason, the Jets' power play percentage currently sits at 15.8, which is a major drop from their league-leading 28.9 percent during the regular season. Meanwhile, the Dallas Stars power play percentage is a whopping 32.4. Comparatively, Winnipeg doesn't hold a candle to that.

The penalty kill percentage currently sits at 73 which is a bit lower than their 79.4 percentage from the regular season. Winnipeg has another contributing issue that leaves them constantly on the penalty kill: they are the postseason penalty minute leaders with 210 PIM. On top of that, Dallas' penalty kill percentage sits at 89.5, a huge jump from their 82 percent success rate during the regular season. The Stars are outmatching the Jets in special teams in all aspects, which is a severe blow to Winnipeg.

Assistant coaches Davis Payne and Dean Chynoweth were highly effective assets to the Jets this season and successfully retooled the special teams to be more successful than in previous years. If the team can get back to the basics Payne and Chynoweth instituted during the regular season, then perhaps there is a chance Winnipeg can get back on track.

The Winnipeg Jets have yet to win on the road.

Nikolaj Ehlers against the Dallas Stars (photo via Arctic Ice Hockey).

Home ice has never been more important to the Jets than now. Every win of the playoffs so far for them has been at home. Whatever the reason may be, the team's inability to steal a win on away ice is a major problem. In fact, Winnipeg has lost nine straight playoff games on the road going all the way back to 2023. It worked out in the series against St. Louis since they had home ice advantage and won every game at home. However, the Jets already lost game one of this series to Dallas at home, so that advantage is a moot point now.

If the Jets can find a way to win their next game at home and send the series back to Dallas, they'll have to find a way to snap this losing streak. On the road this season, the Jets went 26-15-0. They're capable of winning away games, but they have to find whatever it is that worked during the regular season and apply it to the rest of this series if they want any chance of moving onto the third round.

Most Things Are Going Wrong

The answer to the title question, unfortunately, seems to be that almost anything and everything that could be going wrong is going wrong for the Jets.

That said, with the best record in the NHL and the President's Trophy under their belt, at Winnipeg's core is a winning team. If they get back to basics, tighten up their offensive strategy, and manage to snag a win on the road, the Jets will continue to be Stanley Cup competitors.