Winnipeg Jets

On Friday night, Kyle Connor — who is having a stupendous statistical season — became the Winnipeg Jets 2.0's first 40/40 man.

Connor has the puck as he and a teammate enter the zone on a two-on-one. He is just entering his prime and is under contract through 2025-26. If Connor doesn’t score 50 this season, he almost certainly will in the future. Individual accolades are all well and good, but the most important thing is that he keeps flexing his overall offensive skill during the team’s push for the second Western Conference Wild Card spot. Connor is also on pace to set a new Jets 2.0 single-season points record. His knack for making accurate passes off the rush, his vision to find open seams in the offensive zone, and ability to dish out perfect sauce make him more than a one-dimensional scorer — they make him a well-rounded and highly-dangerous offensive player in general. He has been held off the scoresheet in just 17 games. He would be just one goal shy from 50 already if it weren’t for those pesky posts. With 40 goals through 65 games, Connor is scoring 0.615 goals per game. The Jets have underachieved in 2021-22, a season they entered pegged by many to be a Stanley Cup contender. Everyone knows how accurate and scorching Connor’s shot is, and how quickly the puck leaves his stick. He is the first Jets’ 40-goal scorer since Patrik Laine accomplished the feat his 2017-18 sophomore season.

Do Kyle Connor, Mark Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Josh Morrissey, Blake Wheeler and company stack up to the league's best?

Elite first-line winger to support the elite centre Top-line centre to play behind the elite centre Elite first-line winger to support the elite centre

Nikolaj Ehlers scored on a breakaway just 21 seconds into overtime, giving the Winnipeg Jets a 4-3 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets on Friday night.

"It's a strange day for them, no matter how you look at it, no matter how you say it,'' the Blue Jackets coach said. "Yeah, for sure,'' he said. "It was cool,'' Laine said. "I like the five hole,'' Ehlers said. Generally, the shooters have the advantage, they have the puck. "I did a couple shoulder checks there.