One of the biggest stories in the National Hockey League over the past month has been the play of the Winnipeg Jets. Since January 22, they have won a franchise record 11 straight games where they have beaten the Colorado Avalanche, Utah Hockey Club, Calgary Flames, Montreal Canadiens, Boston Bruins, Washington Capitals, Carolina Hurricanes, New York Islanders, St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks. Ottawa Senators. In that time, they have outscored their opponents 45-21.
However, all great things have to come to an end. That is what we saw on Thursday, when the Nashville Predators beat the Jets 2-1 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
Who contributed to the Predators?
Nashville got two first period goals. Filip Forsberg of Ostervala, Sweden opened the scoring from Gustav Nyquist of Halmstad, Sweden and Ryan O’Reilly of Clinton, Ontario at 4:26 of the first period. Thomas Novak of St. Paul, Minnesota then scored the game-winning goal after the Jets tied the game at one. Novak’s goal came from defenseman Justin Barron of Halifax, Nova Scotia and Luke Evangelista of Toronto, Ontario with four minutes and 31 seconds left in the first period on the power-play.
Solid goaltending
The Predators also got a solid performance from goaltender Juuse Saros of Forssa, Finland. Saros made 22 saves on 23 shots, as the only Jets player to beat Saros was defenseman Neal Pionk of Omaha, Nebraska. It was a tough start for Saros who had a terrible 2024 part of the 2024-25 season as he went 8-16-6 before the calendar turned.
Could not maintain momentum
Nashville lost 7-4 to the New York Islanders on Saturday. They continue to both play poorly on both ends of the ice this season.
Best record in the NHL
The Jets have the most points in the National Hockey League with 87. They have a record of 42 wins, 15 regulation losses and three losses in extra time, and have three more points than the second place Washington Capitals.
