The Jets are ranked eighth in the NHL with a 2.80 goals-against average. Their penalty kill is 11th at 80.7 percent, a nice complement to a power play that's second at 28 percent.
Winnipeg's worst stretch of the first half was two losses in a row (twice, Nov. 21-23 and Dec. 27-29). There was a similar consistency when itfinished with 114 points last season -- the most in Jets/Atlanta Thrashers history -- never losing more than three in a row during the regular season.
Coach Paul Maurice said he considered it a good sign that such consistency is developing again this season, especially with a roster that, as of Sunday, is tied with the Ottawa Senators for youngest in the NHL with an average age of 25.6.
"It's an interesting thing that kind of gets lost, right?" he said. "Younger players are less consistent. It doesn't mean they're not fantastic. But it takes a player a few years, even just physically, to be able to drive every day, to understand it.
"That's going to be our learning curve in the second half. The game (Sunday), don't look at the score. Take it right to 3-1, it was a bit of a grinder ... that's coming into our season now. The focus for us in the last 41 is handling that kind of game and getting comfortable if that game ends up 2-1 or 3-1, that we're fine with that."
And that, in turn, should help when the postseason begins.
"That defensive grind, that will shift to heavier to even more of that in the playoffs and we want to prepare for that," Maurice said.
After winning two rounds in the playoffs last season, the Jets were aware of heightened expectations this season. Maurice believes they have not been a burden.
"We've been handling them very well," he said. "I think we have a realistic understanding. We haven't gotten too high when we went on our run (they are 13-5-0 since Nov. 29), and we've been really good at choking off the situation that would make you doubt yourself a whole lot. We've been pretty consistent."
Lowry said the pressure and expectations aren't as high as they could be, especially with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who last won the Stanley Cup in 1967, playing like a serious championship contender.
"Well, the media puts a lot of pressure on us," he said. "Thank God there's Toronto and they throw a lot of pressure on them, so we don't have as much.
"Moving forward, you have to handle that pressure because there is going to be pressure to win every night. It's our job to perform and to perform under those circumstances. Anytime you can emulate that in the regular season, it bodes well to prepare you for the second half, the stretch run and come playoff time."