Post-Game Talk: Jets 4- Preds 3 in OT

[Jet]

I've stated previously that our D is too small and I stand by that. Not saying I hate our D, just that we are not a deep playoff team as constructed. Pionk is doing his best but he is getting bullied out there. Stanley is not the answer right now and we have better options. The makeup and systems employed are contrary more than they are complementary.

This is the hottest of hot takes.

One of our 'small' d might be the best 2 way defenseman in the league. Morrissey was by no means bullied or there, he was an absolute beast and magician, and shook off pressure like it was nothing.

Dillon, Samberg and Stanley are the opposite of small. Demelo is not small - and he has a ridiculous +/- so he's doing fine.

Pionks problem has nothing to do with his size, it's all in his head. When he's playing well he plays a big man's game.

Last night was just as much about the forwards as the d. Without forward support any d corps struggle.

I think we forget that even big beastly men like Buff got hemmed and running around in his zone - its not about size at all.

 

[Jet]

See that’s a change I would like to see for a game or two. What I don’t understand is this stubbornness to keep going back to 81-55. But it’s not just the whole 81 vs 27 thing. There are so many other decisions that are out of left field - like keeping 91 out for like, what was it, 15 games? That was wild, for someone who at one point was on pace for 60 points. A game or two in the press box is one thing, but it went on and on and on. Comes back, played unreal, but two bad periods in a game where everyone played bad other than Helly and he’s back to riding the bench. Not sure what the “message” is. Maybe that’s something that happened 25 years ago in the NHL but in 2024 this old school way of doing things doesn’t necessarily work. Also, the Pionk playing time is just flat out inexplicable.

27 earned his benching.

I don't believe he earned getting stapled to the bench last night, though. I thought he was playing pretty well but unfortunately when you're other winger is playing so bad you can be a victim.

With the way the preds were hitting last night it might have been a blessing in disguise.

I would have thrown Ehlers on the 4th line last night and promoted Barron, and told Nik "get to the red line, dump it in, and grind it out" Force him to simplify his game a bit.

The problem with that is 9 7 36 was probably our best line last night.

 

[Jets 31]

You can look at this game and say that's not going to get it done in the playoffs but i look at it like we can not have our B game and still win because our goaltending is so good. 4th win in a row and......

 

[Jets 31]

91 earned his benching.

I don't believe he earned getting stapled to the bench last night, though. I thought he was playing pretty well but unfortunately when you're other winger is playing so bad you can be a victim.

With the way the preds were hitting last night it might have been a blessing in disguise.

I would have thrown Ehlers on the 4th line last night and promoted Barron, and told Nik "get to the red line, dump it in, and grind it out" Force him to simplify his game a bit.

The problem with that is 9 7 36 was probably our best line last night.

Barron played really well last night .

 

[Ludwig Fell Down]

Is Bowness a perfect coach that makes exactly the right moves all the time? No. But no coach does. The Jets have 102 points right now, how many more points do people think we should have if Bowness was a even halfway good coach like some on here constantly say? Do people think with a decent coach we would at least be at 120 points right now? I am a admitted homer and even i don't think we would.

119 maybe, but 120? Not a chance.

 

[Jets 31]

This is unbelievable really.

 

[WolfHouse]

91 earned his benching.

I don't believe he earned getting stapled to the bench last night, though. I thought he was playing pretty well but unfortunately when you're other winger is playing so bad you can be a victim.

With the way the preds were hitting last night it might have been a blessing in disguise.

I would have thrown Ehlers on the 4th line last night and promoted Barron, and told Nik "get to the red line, dump it in, and grind it out" Force him to simplify his game a bit.

The problem with that is 9 7 36 was probably our best line last night.

The strange thing is that Perfetti's line had a massive corsi advantage compared to all the other lines... so Im not sure he 'earned' it anymore than say Toffoli or Ehlers...

Bones post-game view of the line blender was pretty strange - he was happy with it except it sure seemed to accelerate the collapse rather than stem it - it was 3-1 when we reunited CSV

 

[WpgSteve]

I completely understand that line of thinking, however, I saw the effort with Kyle last night, and the problem with scratching an elite scorer like Connor is you're basically handicapping yourself. He can have a poor game and still score an important goal any time he's on the ice, kind of like what he did last night.

Hockey history is littered with elite scorers like this that frustrate the hell out of you with their play but always find a way to put the puck in the net.

The knock on KFC is that he plays soft and lazy defensively. The knock on Ehlers is that he makes stupid plays with the puck leading to turnovers. Coaches (and certainly Bones) hate repeated stupid mistakes more than anything else.

 

[Jet]

The strange thing is that Perfetti's line had a massive corsi advantage compared to all the other lines... so Im not sure he 'earned' it anymore than say Toffoli or Ehlers...

Bones post-game view of the line blender was pretty strange - he was happy with it except it sure seemed to accelerate the collapse rather than stem it - it was 3-1 when we reunited CSV

I screwed up, I meant 27 earned it not Cole.

 

[Jets 31]

The strange thing is that Perfetti's line had a massive corsi advantage compared to all the other lines... so Im not sure he 'earned' it anymore than say Toffoli or Ehlers...

Bones post-game view of the line blender was pretty strange - he was happy with it except it sure seemed to accelerate the collapse rather than stem it - it was 3-1 when we reunited CSV

And down the rabbit hole we go.

 

[kanadalainen]

Not sure you need to be deep when their top 3 players have the same points as our top 6

Of course they do, but that is beside the point. Depth is an interesting variable which applies to loss of the best players.

The playoffs are a war...with frequent injuries. Depth can help mask this problem. I think the point made by the OP is that Colorado is suceptible to this possibility.

 

[Flair Hay]

Is Bowness a perfect coach that makes exactly the right moves all the time? No. But no coach does. The Jets have 102 points right now, how many more points do people think we should have if Bowness was a even halfway good coach like some on here constantly say? Do people think with a decent coach we would at least be at 120 points right now? I am a admitted homer and even i don't think we would.

This is a solid outlook. We do fixate on the biggest problems that we think are a big part of the gap between our level of play and our potential. But given our roster it's probably fair to say we are closer to our potential than a lot of teams out there.

Bowness does deserve credit for that. It doesn't make individual message board criticisms less valid. As you said, all coaches make lots of mistakes. Leadership is a very hard job.

 

[Joe Hallenback]

That game got hard and both Ehlers and Pefetti folded faster then Superman doing laundry

 

[Flair Hay]

See that’s a change I would like to see for a game or two. What I don’t understand is this stubbornness to keep going back to 81-55. But it’s not just the whole 81 vs 27 thing. There are so many other decisions that are out of left field - like keeping 91 out for like, what was it, 15 games? That was wild, for someone who at one point was on pace for 60 points. A game or two in the press box is one thing, but it went on and on and on. Comes back, played unreal, but two bad periods in a game where everyone played bad other than Helly and he’s back to riding the bench. Not sure what the “message” is. Maybe that’s something that happened 25 years ago in the NHL but in 2024 this old school way of doing things doesn’t necessarily work. Also, the Pionk playing time is just flat out inexplicable.

The little things can end up making a big difference in a playoff series.

Hard enough for a coach to make effective adjustments on the fly and consistently make the right ones.

I think it's key not to make any self inflicted mistakes. Hopefully when it comes to playoff time the 81-55 and Pionk issues we have discussed over and over don't end up being that.

I don't want to pretend that they *will* come back to haunt us no matter what, or that they will even happen at all. They are absolutely reasons for concern though.

 

[Jets 31]

Of course they do, but that is beside the point. Depth is an interesting variable which applies to loss of the best players.

The playoffs are a war...with frequent injuries. Depth can help mask this problem. I think the point made by the OP is that Colorado is suceptible to this possibility.

I would agree, i think we are like Carolina, no McJesus but a solid 4 lines, decent defense and great goaltending. Did someone say Carolina?

 

[Stumbledore]

Coaches should have benched kc. Nothing wrong with calling Ehlers out when he plays badly but he is usually one of our best. Coaches decisions don’t always make sense.

Make sense to who? Half the guys on this board keep insisting the coach is rigid or clueless or wrong or stupid or whatever and yet - and yet - teams keep paying them millions of dollars to coach at the nhl level. It's almost like the team owners think these coaches have knowledge and more expertise than the average fan.

The coach shoulda done this, or shoulda done that. This or that proves the coach is wrong, it's real obvious to all of us, everyone says, nobody thinks he should -- it just goes on and on in here.

 

[Buffdog]

Make sense to who? Half the guys on this board keep insisting the coach is rigid or clueless or wrong or stupid or whatever and yet - and yet - teams keep paying them millions of dollars to coach at the nhl level. It's almost like the team owners think these coaches have knowledge and more expertise than the average fan.

The coach shoulda done this, or shoulda done that. This or that proves the coach is wrong, it's real obvious to all of us, everyone says, nobody thinks he should -- it just goes on and on in here.

In today's age, people think that managing an NHL bench is as easy as reading a spreadsheet and putting lines together

 

[Guardian17]

Happy for the win, but, not impressed with our level of play.

We need to get out of Nashville as fast as we can.

We're gonna have to play a lot better against Dallas.

 

[bustamente]

Depth in the playoffs is paramount and not just because injuries happen, ask Leafs fans what happens when their top players are muted in the post season.......................fore

 

[tbcwpg]

Let's give up 50 shots per game to the Avs and see how a playoffs series against them goes...

Sure but you could look at a few of the last games the Avs have played and say "If the Avs give that much space to the Jets top 6 let's see how a playoff series against them goes". I really didn't like the game last night but other teams are also quite capable of putting up stinkers as well.

 

[Jets 31]

Happy for the win, but, not impressed with our level of play.

We need to get out of Nashville as fast as we can.

We're gonna have to play a lot better against Dallas.

 

[King Woodballs]

4-0 since I stopped watching.
I guess it needs to continue indefinitely

 

[bustamente]

4-0 since I stopped watching.
I guess it needs to continue indefinitely

On behalf of all HF Jets posters I commend and applaud you for your sacrifice and steadfast. Please continue this thru the playoffs

 

[BoneDocUK]

Depth in the playoffs is paramount and not just because injuries happen, ask Leafs fans what happens when their top players are muted in the post season.......................fore

Yep, depth matters more in the playoffs for sure, especially as series go on and take their toll. Mack is playing sublime hockey at the moment, but if the Jets can lock him down even a bit then they're in with a shout, especially if they can split the first two games.

Intensity is a double-edged sword, and my sense is that if the Jets can play a calmer, grindier, tamped-down game and pick their chances they should be able to make use of that depth and the headiness of key players, and sit back and watch as Mack & Co get frustrated and make mistakes.

One thing they can't do is play the Avs like they did last night, and get into a wide-open shooting gallery situation. If they can play like we know they can (Rangers, Boston, etc) then they have a shot. If they loosen up, they're going to get rolled.

That was a fun game that turned into a shocker. JMo was strong, Dillon did what he could, and the 4th line was solid again.

Pionk needs to have his minutes limited. He's not only playing some awful hockey -- he's a chaos-generating machine who makes his linemates worse and his dumbass penalties are forcing the PK to work harder and longer than they should. Sit him, bring in Miller or Schmidt, at whatever cost, so he can reset.

Ehlers had a poor game but they're going to need him -- he should bounce back as he always gas, but I'm not sure that the constant line-juggling has or will be helpful.

If Bones is bent on playing 81-55-13, then he needs to just do it, stick with it, and own it, for better or worse, IMO. There's a handful of games left, and arsing about with the lines cannot be good for the team's sense of stability and purpose. I get that he has all these combinations at his disposal and faith in himself to make these adjustments work, but it feels like players now need to be sure of who they're going to work with.

Anyway, we won. Again. Time to look forward to the POs, and worry less about game to game.

 

[buggs]

4-0 since I stopped watching.
I guess it needs to continue indefinitely

I skipped last night as well as the spring gave out on the garage door, so was otherwise occupied. I may have to banish myself. Although given how poorly they played the last 40 minutes, maybe I should show up for that.