Winnipeg Jets: Statistically Breaking Down the Jets' Mediocre Start to Season

The Winnipeg Jets are having a mediocre season. Through 15 games, the Jets hold a 5-8-2 record, which puts them in last place in the Central Division. They’re also the second-worst team in the entire Western Conference.

The transition to the West was going to be rough, but the Jets don’t even look competitive right now.

Do the Jets have what it takes to turn things around? They have a lot of problems to fix.

We can break down the Jets' porous record by looking at some key statistics—where they thrive and what they fail to get done.

This won't point out any individuals but will take a look at the overall team aspect. Whether or not they have the right personnel or individual talent to get the job done is a debate for another time.

Goals For/Goals Against

Winning hockey games simply comes down to outscoring the opponent.

The Jets are ranked 24th in the league averaging 2.20 goals per game. Counter to that, the Jets are ranked 22nd allowing 2.93 goals per game. It only makes sense that the Jets are the 22nd best team in the NHL.

The Jets are inconsistent in both of these categories. When they’re scoring goals, they’re not keeping them out of their net and vice versa.

In their last five games, the Jets haven’t scored more than two goals in a game, while opponents have scored three or more goals in four different games. In that span, the Jets are 1-3-1.

Overall, the Jets only scored more than two goals in five out of the 15 games they played this season. On the flip side, they’ve allowed three or more goals in 12 of the 15 games.

In short, the Jets are allowing too many goals and aren’t scoring enough to win.

Special Teams/Power Play

The Jets are a solid penalty-killing team, but the same can’t be said for their lackluster power play.

The Jets are ranked in the bottom five (26th) in the NHL in power-play percentage with a measly 10.9 percent. That is a 1-10 ratio, but the hot and cold streaks make it even more unsteady.

A recent 0-for-26 drought sums up how streaky the power play actually is. I’m almost half-expecting Claude Noel to decline the penalties at this point. If only this were a different sport.

Clearly, this is a huge part in why the Jets are closer to the bottom in goals per game. And, of course, why they’ve lost some games they could have won with the swing of a power-play goal.

Faceoffs

Faceoffs are a key part to any hockey game. The more times you win them, the more times you can control the pace and keep possession. Offensive zone faceoffs, defensive zone faceoffs, even neutral zone faceoffs—they’re all important.

The Jets are the third-worst faceoff-winning team in the NHL, as they only win 44.5 percent of their faceoffs. Obviously, the centers have to do a better job in winning the draws.