The Winnipeg Jets begin this week’s NHL schedule occupying top spot in the Central Division.
But the mood in the visitors’ dressing in Anaheim Sunday night was hardly celebratory — or even upbeat — following the 4-2 comeback win over the Ducks.
Watching Kyle Connor lying in the Anaheim crease just 27 seconds into the second period, clutching at his right knee, was about as unnerving a sight as there could have been for the Jets and their fan base.
One of the top goal scorers in the NHL, sidelined for who knows how long, by a knee-on-knee collision with Ducks forward Ryan Strome.
And judging by how Winnipeg reacted, with an entirely non-productive five-minute power play, Connor’s teammates were plenty distracted.
How could they not be?
The Jets number 81 has never missed a game due to injury in his NHL career. Sure, there were three games in the 2021-22 season that Connor did not play in. But it was COVID-19 protocol that forced him to the sidelines, not an injury.
There’s not much to doubt that that streak of durability and availability is going to come to an end Tuesday night in San Jose.
The encouraging sign was the Jets’ response in the third period.
Thirty-four seconds after Alex Iafallo came within a goalpost of tying the game, the Ducks took a 2-0 lead. It could have been curtains at that point.
Wasn’t that what many of us were thinking?
But Winnipeg’s first successful comeback from a deficit after two periods this season began less than a minute later, culminating in Gabriel Vilardi’s first goal in his eighth game as a Jets player with just over 100 seconds remaining.
Let’s not kid ourselves. Surviving the loss of Connor — for any length of time — is not going to be easy. Winnipeg found a way Sunday night.
And you get the feeling, because of how they did it, that the Jets are up for the challenge.