Okay, let's talk about our game. Overall, we weren't bad at all. We outplayed PIT for most parts of the 2nd and 3rd period and SHOULD have won that game again. It's really starting to be a concern that we outplay our opponent overall and outshoot them but they just score on a better SH%. How do you fix this?
Before the game, we moaned that they don't go hard enough to the net but they really did yesterday on a couple of occasions. They just couldn't convert.
But there is one thing I just DON'T understand: I'm okay with the new way of the inference rule when you give a shot to a player who's dumping the puck on the blue line. I'm jus not seeing how we get those kind of penaltys and not the opponent. We also get these little "shots" when passing by the defender on the blue line. Kane? He's Mr. "dump it with speed along the boards and overskate the defender". When he does it, 50% of the time the defender WILL try to get him a little shot to the boards or on open ice. AND THEY NEVER GET A PENALTY. WHY?
Pavelec:
This was his best game since his las game against PIT in the 4-2 win at home. He was fine overall, made a couple of good saves but also gave away a couple of juicy rebounds. I wouldn't really blame him on both goals. He did look a bit unfortunate on the first one, maybe you snowman more in the center of the crease instead of giving up half the net but that can happen in a scrum. The 2nd goal was not an impossible save to make but it still was a very nice hard and heavy low shot from a very good goalscorer who scored his 11nd PP goal of the season getting fed by Malkin and Crosby on a 5on3. The problem wasn't the save, it was Redmonds stupid penalty.
Stuart and Redmond:
You could actually really say that Redmond and Stuart have been the main reason (looking at our defensive game) why we lost the game. Both do an awful job battling in the crease against their fourth line on the first goal. Then Redmond takes a dumb penalty in the 3rd when we're about the get more pressure on Fleury shift after ****. And then Stuart takes another dumb (though more unfortunately than dumb) penalty to make it a 5on3. They score - game over.
If Clitsome would have been Redmond, the board def. would have been aaaaaall over him. And they would be right, so we also have to speak about Redmond. He had two (or even three?) bad games in a row now. But he's young and I'm okay with him making mistakes and learning about it. I don't think we should bench him. With Toby's injury they'll probably need him anyway. Stuart? He could maybe use a break, but not against Boston (former team and you need a guy like Stuart playing good against the Bruins).
Hainsey:
Solid game. No noticeable mistakes but nothing great either. Not much to say about him.
Hainsey's a scrub that does nothing?
WRONG:
He had played over 28 minutes! That's two more than Buff and nearly three more than Bogosian.
Does a solid game and no misktake with 28 minutes on the ice still sound like a scrub against PIT's Offense?
Byfuglien:
Tried a lot joining the rush and giving us the momentum when in the Penguins zone. We would have really needed a goal out of him on our PP chances, but before I rage against Buff not converting, we have to talk about the guys which job it is to do this. Buff had a solid defensive game and was only out of position because of a jump in the offensive game 2 or 3 times. Though we were lucky the one time. He skated down low and lost the puck but the Penguins couldn't start their own rush quick enough. It would have been a 2 or maybe even 3on1. It was at the beginning of the third IIRC.
Bogosian:
Nice dude! Best player for the Jets. He nearly cleared the 3on5 all on his own. A couple of nice hits, looked very confident and more confident after every shift and skated the puck beautifully through the N-zone a couple of times. Man I actually fortgot what a beauty he is when skating coast-to-coast. We really need him and it's great to have him back.
Downside: I think besides two missed shots, one on the PP and one on ES, he had nothing going on on the O. But that's okay. I guess he probably focused on more basic things in his first game back.
Enström:
I hope it's only a couple of games and not a month or sth like that
Ladd:
Was very active in front of the goal again and has been in good position a couple of times to put the puck on the net. I'm actually really impressed by his play in the last games. He looks like a real goalscorer out there. Silently going into the holes to get passes and quickly putting them on net. And in his 4th or 5th try he scored again. He is one of the few Jets that go in places that can be painful but the goals show that this pays. Solid game.
Wheeler:
Another case of "what are some people talking about
".
I've read a lot of "wheeler was so bad again, they need to trade him. And I need another beer." bla bla. Seriously? Wheeler and two other player have been the only three able to make a couple of slick, quick and accurate pass on the tape of another player to create a scoring chance. He had a couple of awesome playmaking plays again. It's amazing how he get's the puck to Ladd kind a like everytime
. He isn't the all-mighty force he was for the most part of last season and you surely can argue that he need's to put up goals and not only assists, too. But Wheeler is making the best passes by faaaar right now on our lineup.
Little:
He was ok. Had two beautiful scoring chances - didn't convert on both of them. Little is exactly what the Jets problem is right now: They try, they work, they lose some battles but also win some. They make a couple of quick passes but nothing that makes you "wow!", they shoot and miss the net and if they do hit the net, they still don't convert. If you give them a free pass to your goal to score, they won't capitalize.
Bryan Little = Winnipeg Jets
Kane:
As always it's tiring to see Kane play. On one shift he leads the rush, get's the puck deep, drills a guy, wins a puck battle, dishes it to someone and creates a scoring chance.
On the other shift he tries to go through 2 defenders, looses the puck, hustles after it, doesn't get it, skates somewhere else, get's the puck by mistake near the blue line, panics, tries to spin around and shoot the puck on the net and just hits someone somewhere and the puck gets cleared. That's the kind of shift when you can bet 5 bucks on somebody to immediately post something like "Kane has no hockey sense at all! He will never be a superstar player because his hockey IQ is too low".
And that are the moments, when we forget that he's still only 21 and makes mistakes and has a lot to learn.
Burmistrov:
Best offensive player yesterday. Had a couple of great shifts and looked like the player on the ice, that knew the most what he'd be about to do with the puck. He really is on his way to become an elite 2-way player this season. He is one of the only players on the roster that played a very good season yet. You sometimes just gotta love his hands
Wellwood and Jokinen:
Both had a good game. "Did they? I don't think they were any kind of outstanding".
They had a couple of very good cycling shifts along with Tangradi. They generated a lot of shots but couldn't convert on any. It still wasn't an outstanding game for them, that's true. But both have been so invisible lately that considered their invisibility in the last games, THIS game was good for them.
Tangradi:
Well Mr. Tangradi, welcome to the team. I really liked what I saw from Eric. He worked hard, went to the net, to the corners, had a real good scoring chance and seemed to instantly look good with Jokinen and Wellwood. I'm looking forward to see those three again in the next games. He COULD end up a very good pickup. He certainly had a lot more fire than Poni (and I sure wasn't a Poni critic).
Wright, Slater, Thorburn:
Besides the 1-0 shift, on which they looked not good, they did their job but nothing really more. Wright with his first fight and I liked the jump. He surely was a nice pick-up. I'd like to see Peluso again for Thorburn, soon.
Best Jets:
Bogosian, Hainsey, Burmistrov
Good Jets:
Buff, Wheeler, Pavelec
Ok Jets:
Tangradi, Wellwood, Jokinen, Ladd
Meh Jets:
Kane, Thorburn, Wright, Slater
Bad Jets:
Stuart and Remond