WINNIPEG — The Winnipeg Jets have stopped the bleeding — for now.
The Jets pulled off the impossible on Tuesday, scoring four goals over a span of just two minutes and six seconds before defenceman Dylan Samberg scored in overtime to complete a thrilling 5-4 comeback victory over the Montreal Canadiens at the Bell Centre.
Winnipeg entered the game at an all-time low.
They were coming off arguably the worst defeat in Jets' 2.0 history, falling 7-0 to the defending Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes. Winnipeg looked listless, appearing to quit on itself in what was a ninth consecutive loss.
A loss to the Canadiens would have been a 10th straight defeat, giving the Jets two separate double-digit losing skids in the same calendar year after Winnipeg lost 11 consecutive games during the 2025-26 campaign.
Instead, the Jets found some last-minute Montreal magic to break the slide, erupting from the bench in pure joy and a large dose of relief.
"That felt like a playoff win in there," Jets head coach Scott Arniel said after the game. "I'm so happy for them, and they're so happy for each other. We've been talking about it for the last stretch here, about staying together as a group. We lose together, we win together, but we just stay together. I just felt tonight, you could see it and we went after them."
So, what does this all mean for the Jets?
When it comes to the league's standings, not much. While it was a thrilling win, it still counts the same as any other victory, with the Jets (5-8-3) still sitting three games below a modest .500 record.
Winnipeg is currently seventh place in the Central Division, behind only the rebuilding Chicago Blackhawks. And while the Jets sit just four points shy of the final wild-card playoff spot in the Western Conference, that doesn't exactly tell the whole story, not with four other teams ahead of them fighting for the same spot currently held by the Nashville Predators.
What Arniel is hoping Tuesday's win can do is provide a boost of confidence and also allow the team to reset and focus on stacking up more wins for a playoff push. Coaches and players have carried a heavy burden through the first month of play as general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff worked to ship out disgruntled goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, who created a circus in Winnipeg by taking his trade demand public in August.
But the miracle in Montreal will mean little if the Jets can't find an answer against the struggling Vancouver Canucks on Thursday. Vancouver has lost 13 of its last 14 games, boasting an NHL-worst 3-13-1 record.
"You just got to stay in the pack," Arniel said. "I know it's been a grind for us, but we just got to stay in it, and hopefully this is the jump start that we need."
The win against Montreal likely saved Arniel his job.
The Jets bench boss was facing a ton of heat during this skid, with headlines across Canada and the U.S. challenging Arniel's job security. Reports had surfaced earlier this week that the Jets were not considering a coaching change just yet, but had the losses continued to pile up, not even the most loyal of organizations would have been able to sell the status quo.
When asked about potential changes after the demoralizing loss to Carolina, Arniel quickly dismissed any concerns. When a Montreal reporter began to ask him about the questions surrounding his job status heading into the game, Arniel shot back with a correction, noting it was reporters who were questioning him.
"I really don't care about that," Arniel added. "This is Nov. 3. It isn't February and March. We're still in the hunt."
But can the Jets stay in the hunt?
That's the ultimate question, and while there is no way of guaranteeing the future, there's nothing, including the underlying numbers, that strongly suggests they will. Special teams can often make up for mistakes, but Winnipeg's power play and penalty kill rank among the worst in the NHL — at 26th and 27th, respectively.
After all, Winnipeg had to do what no other team has done in NHL history before to edge the Canadiens and snap their slide. Indeed, teams that trailed by four goals with three minutes remaining were an eye-popping 0-9652-0.
The good news for Winnipeg is its slump hasn't been for a lack of effort. Outside of the Carolina game, the Jets have put in the work, and there have been no signs of individual players being too frustrated to play within Arniel's system.
The victory against Montreal backed that up. While Winnipeg needed a flurry of goals in the final minutes, the Jets were the better team for much of the night.
"That's a long, hard stretch, but this group believed in each other," said Jets rookie Tyrel Bauer, who recorded his first goal, first assist and added a fight to complete the Gordie Howe hat trick against the Canadiens. "We're proud of that. We had each other's backs in that room."
The bad news for the Jets is that their biggest issue is directly related to their roster construction. In other words: do the Jets have the right mix of players to compete for a playoff spot? This is where the blame falls on Cheveldayoff.
Arniel has tried his best to create chemistry among his forward lines, testing out various combinations at practice while being unafraid to pull out the line blender in-game. He even went as far as spitting up Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor on the top line, though they were reunited with Gabe Vilardi against Montreal.
The Jets still don't have an answer for second-line centre. While captain Adam Lowry is a key part of the team's leadership core – and showed off his vintage toughness in a fight with Montreal's Florian Xhekaj – at this point of his career, he's more suited for the fourth line than the second.
Rookie Viggo Bjorck was the original plan to centre the second unit, and although he played well defensively, he was unable to generate any offence. He remains pointless through 16 games and has shifted to the wing on the third line.
It will be interesting to see what Winnipeg's plan is for the young Swede. A stint with the AHL's Manitoba Moose might be on the horizon, which would allow Bjorck to log major minutes and play in all situations, while continuing to learn the Jets' system. From a development standpoint, it makes the most sense.
The Jets expect to get star defenceman Josh Morrissey back as early as this Sunday when the Tampa Bay Lightning come to town. Morrissey has missed the last 12 games with a wrist injury, with the Jets going 2-8-2 in his absence.
Winnipeg made a surprising move putting forward Brad Lambert on waivers Tuesday. Drafted by the Jets 30th overall in 2022, Lambert impressed in his first full season with the Moose in 2023-24, scoring 21 goals and 55 points in 64 games. But he hasn't come close since, collecting just six goals and 13 points last season with the Moose, while going pointless in seven playoff games.
Lambert did eventually clear, freeing him to report to the Moose. Still, the Jets were nevertheless okay with losing a former first-round pick over some aging veterans, all while holding three goaltenders.
It made sense not to put Bauer or goaltender Clay Stevenson on waivers, as both would have been snatched up by another club. But continuing to play forward Nino Niederreiter or defenceman Haydn Fleury seems harder to justify over younger talent. On that note, don’t be surprised to see Brayden Yager get a call-up from the Moose.
Whether you agree or not, something needed to happen to shake up a struggling roster. With the losing skid now in the rear-view mirror, the prevailing feeling among players is that they just want to turn the page and push forward.
"It's no secret what we just went through," Bauer said. "We knew something had to give and it finally did. We're going to run with that and we're not looking back."
