‘One game at a time’: Winnipeg Jets off to NHL-best 15-1 start

NEW YORK – The Winnipeg Jets are the first NHL team to record 15 wins in their first 16 games as their focused group continues to preach a “one game at a time” mantra.

Timely scoring and excellent goaltending rose to the front as the Jets defeated the New York Rangers 6-3. Winnipeg leads the league with a franchise record 73 goals through 16 games.

“We know what we’re doing, but we don’t overdo it. We just move on to the next one,” Jets forward Kyle Connor said. “That speaks to management not to get too comfortable. There’s still a lot of season left.”

Connor and Mark Scheifele each scored twice as the Jets also won their seventh straight road game. They are the last undefeated road team in the NHL.

The Jets have a Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender in Connor Hellebuyck, who is 12-1-0 this season with three shutouts. Winnipeg’s balanced attack also features 11 players with at least 10 points. Connor leads with 22 points, including 11 goals. Scheifele is next with 21 points, including nine goals.

The Jets started with eight straight wins under coach Scott Arniel, lost 6-4 to Toronto at home on Oct. 28 and have now picked up seven more wins.

“You would never have drawn it up like this,” Arniel said of the Jets’ record. “We talked about it at the start of the season that we got points in a tough division in a tough Western Conference. The boys definitely earned every inch of it.”

Against the Rangers – last season’s Presidents’ Trophy winners – the Jets also had three assists from former Ranger defenseman Neal Pionk and two assists from Nikolaj Ehlers and an insurance goal from fellow ex-Ranger Vladislav Namestnikov.

“We had some good backchecks that turned into opportunities the other way and we made them pay,” said Scheifele, who opened the scoring just 57 seconds into Madison Square Garden, then added his second goal of the game at 1: 08 of the third. “Playing with good players, going to the right places and supporting each other well – good things will happen.”

Arniel, a former assistant coach with the Rangers when Alain Vigneault was behind New York’s bench, relished the opportunity to record another key win against a tough opponent as the Jets began a three-game road trip against elite Eastern Conference opponents. The Jets visit the Tampa Bay Lightning and defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers.

“This league is all about pressure, and when you’re good at it, you can make it difficult for the opposition,” Arniel said. “The biggest thing for our group is that we’ve done a good job with resets.”