Post-Game Talk: GIANT KILLERS: Jets 3 Blues 1

[kanadalainen]

 

[buggs]

I agree. He had a pretty weak clear attempt where he had a ton of time, waited too long and then got pressured and weakly threw it up the boards, and an ill advised switch that almost got picked off but other than that he was rock solid. He also applied some sensible physical play, outside of that one time he stepped way out of structure to hit Kyrou? outside his blueline that could have been a man advantage break. It reminds me of late stage Stuart or Buff before he decided to actually play defense. He needs to cut that out.

If he could find a way to avoid these jittery shifts he tends to have within a game, he is a perfectly fine bottom pairing D.

Didn't see the game so happy to hear he played well.

Only comment regarding Stan I have is his skating still makes me nervous. He's fine going forward and adequate going backward. But the transition when someone goes around him makes me want to cry. If he doesn't play it perfectly and someone gets around him they are gone. I think there are teams he can play alright against in the playoffs, but Colorado won't be one of them.

 

[WolfHouse]

Structure and support was all there... now they just have to show that they can bring that intensity two games in a row

 

[TheDeuce]

View attachment 1008842

So by my count our magic number is 3. 2 if one of those wins is against Dallas. Is my math correct?

I saw another post that suggested our magic number was six. I'm guessing that our magic number in points, not wins by the Jets / losses by the Stars.


m.

 

[Adam da bomb]

Structure and support was all there... now they just have to show that they can bring that intensity two games in a row

Yep it’s easier when you have guys who play within the team structure. Not ehlers strong suit.

 

[Hein57]

Play that same way against Dallas this Thursday and we'll have the West locked up. Simple as that!

 

[WolfHouse]

Yep it’s easier when you have guys who play within the team structure. Not ehlers strong suit.

 

[GNP]

Play that same way against Dallas this Thursday and we'll have the West locked up. Simple as that!

Yes, especially with Ehlers back in the lineup, to add some scoring punch.

 

[hockeyarena]

it may be greedy but i'd love at least 5 points to beat our 114 pts record...think this year's team deserves it.

 

[Gm0ney]

Warning can’t sleep at 5:00 in the morning TLDR post incoming.

Daughter had an exhibition volleyball game and her team played up an age group vs the older kids on her club. It was a tad humbling just due to the difference in serving power but it was great practice. Kurt Kielback was watching his granddaughter play on the other team. He and his wife make it out to all her games and they seem like pretty awesome, supporting, loving grandparents. Like him, she’s really tall.

I didn’t get home until a bit after 9:00 and decided to watch the game on my iPad but on delay. I enjoyed the coverage on Prime way more than Sportsnet, mostly because it didn’t have all the Canadian genuflect to the large Canadian media market darling teams. I felt they gave Winnipeg a very good shake. Always like Hnidy too. I could also watch the game on my iPad in bed.

OK, not so brief game summary:

Jets put on a clinic for 5 man defensive coverage with all their line/D combinations. A true master class in what playoff hockey should look like. Last time I looked we gave up about 15 shots to the hottest team in the NHL who played fine but they had zero time and space. Two games against Vegas and the Blues this week and we gave up one goal combined. Yea in the middle we laid an egg in Utah but in the hardest two games I got a glimpse of a team that “should” be tougher in the playoffs.

I thought it was the best game I have watched Stanley play. I give allot of credit to the forwards he was playing with too because Logan didn’t get exposed, played pretty clean and dare I say somewhat mistake free, and once in a while he applied some timely physicality. Fluery was ok and I mean that as a compliement.

Samberg continues to get better and better and the Prime group singled him out a few times and talked about how Schenn gushed about how good Dylan is in their interview with Luke. That pair looked good last night and Luke looks comfortable in the top four with Samberg.

Morrissey DeMelo also looked good. Josh is a magician and his skills were on full display last night.

I bring up the D groups because the Blues are a very hard forchecking team that put allot of pressure on D groups and our six held up really well.

That gets me to our 12 forwards and how well they all played within our structure. That group of 12 were kind of a nightmare for the Blues following Scott and the coaching staffs plan to a tee. People always talk about 60 minute games and they are next to impossible to have largely due to the fact the other team is trying to win too, and the other teams are good too. However last night was a full 60 minutes of feeding the Blues our style!!

Random thoughts on some individuals.

Barron’s best game I have seen him play. His speed and size on full display and he and Josh did a great job of turning defense into offense with their forced turnover that led to Morgan’s goal.

Cole has arrived. That was a tough game and he looked really comfortable playing playoff type hockey on the boards and in the contested areas. Dam he was close to a goal beside the net.

Iaffalo brings a different element to the top line. Yes Vilardi is more gifted offensively but Iaffalo has more impact defensively and does provide an element of bang and crash kayos to the line that they don’t have with Gabe. Dirtier plays and Alex brings a defensive bite to the group that is unique to him. Great line combo in Gabe’s absence coaches.

Connor and Scheif had a nice night against a tough match up. Hope that is how Kyle plays in the playoffs because he was fighting through the physicality more than he tends to after game 82. That was a more playoff ready look that I quite like.

I thought Nino played a bit better on the second line.

Tanev brings so much to this team. I get his deficiencies but I would absolutely love him as a teammate. I forgot how dam entertaining he is to watch. He and Matty P prove that small guys can mix it up. It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the Dog. Small guys that play big.

Best trade deadline since Stats. You don’t have to add scoring to the top scoring team in the NHL but boy is toughness and compete a beautiful element to add to this version of the Jets. Dare I say it was much more needed.

Lowery Tanev Apples played a nastier game than I am use to out of our 3rd unit. Keep that up.

Last but not least Helle didn’t get tested allot but looked razor sharp and what the hell, he has turned into an excellent puck mover.

I have no complaints about last nights game and I always have something I would like to tweak but I have nothing on this one.

Freaking beauty of a game.

I was on a roller coaster at Knott's Berry Farm once called The Ghostrider. Big, wooden coaster, no upside-downs, just fast and lots of dips that look like the framework is going to decapitate you. Anyway, very fun ride, but about 3/4 of the way through I was thinking, shouldn't this be done by now? That's this post...

Smothering game by the Jets. 15 shots is the lowest total for the Blues all season (tied with a November game vs. Utah). Jets allowed the Blues only 1.33 xGF, which is also the low mark for their season. Just dominant.

Here's the Deserve to Win-o-Meter:

 

[Channelcat]

I agree. He had a pretty weak clear attempt where he had a ton of time, waited too long and then got pressured and weakly threw it up the boards, and an ill advised switch that almost got picked off but other than that he was rock solid. He also applied some sensible physical play, outside of that one time he stepped way out of structure to hit Kyrou? outside his blueline that could have been a man advantage break. It reminds me of late stage Stuart or Buff before he decided to actually play defense. He needs to cut that out.

If he could find a way to avoid these jittery shifts he tends to have within a game, he is a perfectly fine bottom pairing D.

He's been good lately, yes, there was a couple of errors, I'm thinking of a sloppy d to d pass late in the 3rd that was nearly an untimely turnover. That is exactly the type of play he needs to remove from his game, but I could make the same criticism of every dman on this team (maybe not 44)

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Those are going to be very problematic when she hits 60+ years old.

 

[10Ducky10]

so what exactly is that supposed to mean...other than u trolling also?

It means he wasn't around after a win but is always around after a loss to call down the Jets play.
Comprende?
entender?

 

[cbcwpg]

A seven game series against the Blues would be interesting. 7 games like we saw last night... ouch.

 

[Gm0ney]

So by my count our magic number is 3. 2 if one of those wins is against Dallas. Is my math correct?

I saw another post that suggested our magic number was six. I'm guessing that our magic number in points, not wins by the Jets / losses by the Stars.


m.

That's right. Magic number for games (W-L) is 3. Magic number for points is 6.

 

[Jetfaninflorida]

Great win, boys! I didn't get to see the game because of the Amazon Prime thing, even though I pay for Amazon Prime. But that's a whole other story. I can't wait until we get through these injuries and get the full team back. Go Jets Go!

 

[Slimy Sculpin]

That was a solid game. If the Jets play like that through the playoffs, those golf clubs will stay in the bag for quite a while. (Scheifele won't have enough practice time for the Manitoba Open.)

The coaches will have one of those "good" problems when all are fit to play. I really like Iafallo with Scheifele and Connor. Can Vilardi be reintegrated on a different line? And, what will be the D-pairings once Pionk is back?

Interesting times ahead.

Looking forward to a good playoff run.

 

[Moloch]

I wonder what gabe would look like at 2C.

 

[winnipegger]

At this point I don't care if we play Dallas/Colorado in the first round or second round. Just rest key players like Florida is doing. If the jets play like that it won't matter who they face. This team is good, it should be other teams worried about matching up with us.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

At this point I don't care if we play Dallas/Colorado in the first round or second round. Just rest key players like Florida is doing. If the jets play like that it won't matter who they face. This team is good, it should be other teams worried about matching up with us.

I still have PTSD from the Avs playoff series last year. I would love to avoid them this year.

 

[MardyBum]

I still have PTSD from the Avs playoff series last year. I would love to avoid them this year.

Fine with them in the second round if we/they make it, don't want any of them in the 1st round. Hope they get a (somewhat) easier 1st round matchup to get some confidence going.

 

[CanMerc]

If we lose all our games and Colorado wins all there’s, they still can’t catch us so we’re guaranteed top 2 in the Central, top 3 in the West.
Need a few losses by Dallas and Vegas while we win and we can clinch the West…then it’s hoping the Caps can get a streak going to take the league title from us because we don’t need that type of bad juju to ruin our run.

Ideal scenario…
Caps win all remaining, giving them 117,
Jets win 3 of remaining, or win 2 and lose 2 in OT, giving us 116,
and DAL and VGK can’t catch us even if they win all their remaining…DAL 115, VGK 112

 

[WolfHouse]

I wonder what gabe would look like at 2C.

Still very Italian I'd think.

 

[DRW204]

That was a no doubt about it style of win. Score wasn't reflective of how the Jets dominated.
The blues have been playing v well since Montgomery took over, and 12 wins in a row deserves props however 6 of those wins were against bottom feeders and a few more against some mid teams. They did have 2 notable wins vs COL. But overall, cupcake schedule at the right time for them.

 

[Adam da bomb]

If we lose all our games and Colorado wins all there’s, they still can’t catch us so we’re guaranteed top 2 in the Central, top 3 in the West.
Need a few losses by Dallas and Vegas while we win and we can clinch the West…then it’s hoping the Caps can get a streak going to take the league title from us because we don’t need that type of bad juju to ruin our run.

Ideal scenario…
Caps win all remaining, giving them 117,
Jets win 3 of remaining, or win 2 and lose 2 in OT, giving us 116,
and DAL and VGK can’t catch us even if they win all their remaining…DAL 115, VGK 112

I don't believe in jubjubes.