Post-Game Talk: Post game Leaf/Jets

[surixon]

Quick thoughts...

27-55-26 Line didn't stay together for very long. They were awful through most of the first period and a bit. Ehlers was especially bad. His worst game in the past couple of seasons, from my recollection. Scheifele was bad defensively, but a driver of offense as the game wore on. Better game by Wheeler than game 1. At least he was controlling board play and was adequate at zone exits. Copp added a bit to this line, but they really didn't have much at 5v5.

81-25-85 Not a great game from Connor, though he showed some zip later in the game. Stastny was constantly covering up for them in his own zone, but needs doped and play drivers to be effective in the offensive zone. Perreault has lost a step or two. Not really that effective tonight.

9-17-22 Decent game, but nothing special. The Jets lost 4-5 straight faceoffs on the PP before Tavares' goal, and Lowry lost 2-3 of them. Normally face offs don't get me worked up, but tonight the Jets lost almost every one on special teams and it led to way too much D zone time on the PK, and too little O zone time on the PP.

12-11-23 It's just a placeholder line, and I guess they did that. I wish they could be a bit more bold and think about how to add more to their 4th line.

44-8 I'm officially worried about Morrissey. I remember when he would neutralize the best forwards. Now he's just a guy on D. We really need to see him with a better partner. Hard to see how Niku stays in the lineup for much longer. He was the second best Moose D tonight, and just doesn't seem to keep focused.

24-4 So, Forbort is looking like a very good pick-up. He's been the best D over the first couple of games. Solid defensively and very reliable with the puck. This has been a good pair. Pionk is playing a good game alongside Forbort's steadiness.

64-88 Nice debut for Stanley. Didn't get caught out of position much, mostly clean with the puck. Beaulieu had another one of those shifts where he inexplicably gives the puck away and causes a minute of chaos. He shares bottom spot among Jets' D tonight with Niku. Time to see what Samberg and Heinola can do.

Hellebuyck was really solid. Deserved a win for that performance.

I thought Morrissey was good in the first and third. Like everyone else he was a mess in the second. Its hard to carry a non NHL partner though on the top pairing especially when our forwards were pretty awful defensively tonight.

 

[HannuJ]

i will say that, in the half game that i watched (halfway to the 2nd period), my quick impressions:

Forbort was still pretty steady. would have to watch carefully to see his overall D positioning, but he has some good zone puck control.
Niku wasn't bad. maybe i missed something. the penalty he took was a weak call.
Stanley...maybe his play got better. him and Beaulieu together reminds me of when i'm asked to play D during beer league hockey (i'm normally a forward).
I really do think Beaulieu is the worst Jets' d-man out there. another time where he skated out of position to try to make a Big Hit, even though he has zero body control to make contact for a Big Hit.
Ehlers looked lost today. flub city
Scheifele was Flub City and i think he put his skates on the wrong foot or something. looked sluggish.

it would be really fun to take out Beaulieu and put a line of Stanley-Samberg vs the Sens. like, why not?

 

[BoneDocUK]

Let's not forget the start of the 2017 season. Jets get blown out by the leafs opening. Got blown out by the flames the following night I beleive. Then went on to have their best season ever.

Yep, and hope springs eternal, even for Jets fans, but this 2021 team lacks the skill, depth and Buff of that team, and we have already reverted to the sleep through one period and slower-is-safer patterns of last year in both games so far, which is worrying.

We will get healthier, and key players will return. No reason we can’t make a run but more balanced lines and a switch towards quick transition and playing off the rush would be welcome but are going to put some pressure on our systems and roster, IMO.

 

[surixon]

honestly I really don’t think Morrissey is ever going to be the player to carry a #6 Poolman or a #9 Niku as his partner on the top pair match ups. Josh is a complimentary top pairing player so he needs to be with a guy like DeMelo at a minimum to try to take on top pairing minutes.

Maurice needs to get this part of his job figured out fast. Hopefully when DeMelo gets back he joins Josh on the top pair and we can roll at least two second pairings which might not be terrible. You put a Josh with Sami and they are closer to a 3rd pair than a 1st pair.

There is no shame in that either there are maybe 5 to 10 dmen in the league that can drag a bottom pairing or worse dmen to respectability.

If you just isolated on him tonight I thought he was solid for the most part and was really let down by his partner as well as our forwards.

 

[DannyGallivan]

My quick takes:

Logan Stanley's play made the game palatable for me. Poised, several shots towards the net (not sure how many got through), used his reach to his advantage several times. Two big thumbs up for Logan's play. He leap frogs Niku on the depth charge because...

Niku looked awful. He hasn't progressed. He has the skill set for the AHL, at least.

Perreault is done. What was Maurice thinking by having him start on the big line? Scheif's line looked much better once Copp joined.

Hellebuyck is on top of his game. That's going to be very improtant.

Wheeler has looked mostly invisible these past couple of games. I think age may be catching up to him. He can still be effective on the power play, but he has to lose some ice time.

Morrissey was good. He made some mistakes, but made some big plays as well.

Pionk and Forbert played very well again. Like those guys.

I want to see Harkens play a more prominent role. He has some offensive skill and instincts. He should at least be on the third line.

 

[DannyGallivan]

Stanley was pretty good. But when he is good he is invisible. We lack talent at D why whe dont use Heinola? He could bring more creativity and possession with the puck. Cannot win games getting outshot like this.

I noticed him quite a lot. Several effective poke checks, some great outlet passes and a few boomers from the point. For a first NHL game by a defenseman, I couldn't ask for too much more. He was better than his defensive partner. Better than Niku as well.

 

[SensibleGuy]

Wheeler has looked mostly invisible these past couple of games. I think age may be catching up to him. He can still be effective on the power play, but he has to lose some ice time...

You think age may be catching up to him? Age was already neck and neck with him last year. As I said the day his current contract was signed - those last 4 years are going to be painful.

 

[BigZ65]

Niku was a big difference maker in this game with extended minutes. He cannot get the puck from the defensive blue line to the offensive blue line. So many times our rushes would get turned back for transition opportunities for the Leafs.

 

[PhilJets]

From watching only the extended highlights

Forbort and Pionk , not bad 2nd pairing
Hopefully Demelo gets to play with Jmo, that would also be a decent top pair.

Then Heinola and someone as the 3rd pair.


That was a looot of big saves by helly there.
He is calm in net, his saves don't make highlight of the night.

Hope Laine jumps back in , he will make top 6 lethal again....

 

[Farmboy Patty]

Scheifele played more than Matthews (his counterpart) and Stastny played more than Tavares (his counterpart). If anything, Maurice's use of the 3rd and 4th lines here is the issue, not the use of the top 2 lines.

That's also ignoring the extra 6 minutes of PP time the Jets had over the Leafs (0/4 on the PP, Leafs were 1/1), and that the Jets were trying to tie the game in the 3rd.

With all that PP time, Scheifeles line should have had less time ES compared to the second line. Him and Wheeler looked slow and tired out there, while Ehlers was the only one on that line that showed up to play.

 

[Jetfaninflorida]

Where is DeMelo again for the first 7 or 8% of the season?

Oh yeah, Paternity leave.

Hmm. That strikes me as weird given we are talking about pro sports.

Never mind, just old fashioned me I guess.

 

[tbcwpg]

With all that PP time, Scheifeles line should have had less time ES compared to the second line. Him and Wheeler looked slow and tired out there, while Ehlers was the only one on that line that showed up to play.

Ehlers had one of his worst games as a Jet, especially in the 1st period.

I definitely think that Maurice runs his top 6 too hard, but it's running the 1st line at the expense of the 2nd line, it's the top 6 at the expense of the 3rd and 4th lines.

That said, in last night's game specifically, I'm not putting out Lowry's line or Thompson's line if I'm looking for a goal in a 2-0, 2-1 game.

Where is DeMelo again for the first 7 or 8% of the season?

Oh yeah, Paternity leave.

Hmm. That strikes me as weird given we are talking about pro sports.

Never mind, just old fashioned me I guess.

Definitely old fashioned. Outdated, perhaps.

 

[Gil Fisher]

Quick takes...

Liked the forward lines after the juggle.

Harkins should not come out of the lineup.

Stanley looked better as the game progressed. Would give him another game.

Niku looked better than gm 1.

Rust almost off for Helly. Still sliding around a bit much. Didn't like him on the pp goal.

Liked the push in the third but it still looked like preseason execution.

 

[rubikscube]

This team is 1-1 after no preseason missing our second best forward and our third best defensemen. We lost a 1 goal game.

 

[Neuf]

Gotta say I like Copp up there more than Perreault. Hopefully Laine makes it a moot point soon.

Copp skating away from the net, staring up at the ceiling after missing a chance is just too common for me.

I've seen enough of him in the top 6.

But I can't disagree that he's a better choice than Perreault there.

 

[Weezeric]

This team is 1-1 after no preseason missing our second best forward and our third best defensemen. We lost a 1 goal game.

This exactly! Not to mention there are two teams that are 1-3 right now. Jets are comfortably in the top half of the division by my eye. It was a one goal game with three significant injuries (including Demelo)

 

[JetsWillFly4Ever]

I don't think I'll be emotionally invested in the results of Jets game until Maurice goes.

Watching our PK makes me want to puke.

 

[Jet]

I thought the effort was there but the execution was horrid. The same problem we had last year is popping it's ugly head up again - or forwards inability to make the smart play to exit our zone.

Hellebuyck was great, Stanley settled in nicely after a very nervous first period. Really impressed with Forbort - so calm with the puck, making smart sensible plays, good positioning and appropriate physicality. His foot speed isn't great but his awareness makes up for it.

Lowry played a really strong game - very mature and responsible.

Niku was a disaster. Pionk has no confidence with the puck, but it looks like the ice was pretty bad last night.

Morrissey was fine, and Beaulieu was typical Beaulieu - ok with gross seasoned in.

I expect the forwards to be MUCH better tonight.

 

[Whileee]

honestly I really don’t think Morrissey is ever going to be the player to carry a #6 Poolman or a #9 Niku as his partner on the top pair match ups. Josh is a complimentary top pairing player so he needs to be with a guy like DeMelo at a minimum to try to take on top pairing minutes.

Maurice needs to get this part of his job figured out fast. Hopefully when DeMelo gets back he joins Josh on the top pair and we can roll at least two second pairings which might not be terrible. You put a Josh with Sami and they are closer to a 3rd pair than a 1st pair.

I think Morrissey needs to play with a strong defensive partner who can think and adapt quickly, and stop possessions. He was really good with DeMelo, and maybe that's the right pair. Otherwise, I'd like to see Samberg on RD with Morrissey. If he can adapt to playing RD, he has exactly the type of profile to complement Morrissey.

The Forbort-Pionk pairing looks quite solid already.

 

[Whileee]

The stage is set for the rookies. Short season, no fans, all this time off. This season is going to be as unpredictable as possible. Wheeler looks tired, Laine injured, the defense is a shambles already. I just can't help but wonder if 1,2 or 3 out of Samberg, Vesalainen, Heinola could grab at the opportunity and 5urn things around for us.

I've been promoting this for some time. The Jets don't seem likely to be real contenders this season and they have to bring in another few young players (Samberg, Heinola, Vesalainen) to take prominent roles next season. They won't develop without playing.

 

[Whileee]

Couldnt watch the game, how did Frenchy look with Stastny and Connor? Lines stay the same throughout the game?

Perreault looks pretty much finished to me. I can't see much of a downside to replacing him with a young winger at this point...

 

[Whileee]

What game did you watch?
Stanley was one of our better D, so NO he should play again.

Stanley was better than Niku, for sure.

All things considered, I'd like to see Samberg and Heinola in the line-up soon.

Beaulieu has been really chaotic. He has a bunch of okay shifts, and then has a terrible brain cramp or two leading to high danger chances against. But Beaulieu is the Jets designated expansion draft fodder. I think he needs to play 5 more games this season to make him fulfill the expansion draft requirement.

 

[Joe Hallenback]

Watching a few games from all over this start of the season teams are really all over the place when it comes to consistency. The Jets are no different. I don't expect teams to find some consistency until they play 4 or 5 games.

That game was there to win though. We couldn't put one in on the PP and we gave the Leafs way too much all over the place on the ice. The Leafs did a good job standing us up on their blueline and some of speedier players seemed to be in lala land all night.

Yes the D isn't great but with out smarter and better plays from our forwards when they get the puck in our defensive zone would help a lot. I can count a dozen times in that first period alone where they made some really bad decisions or they couldn't handle a pass and the Leafs would retain possession.

 

[surixon]

I think Morrissey needs to play with a strong defensive partner who can think and adapt quickly, and stop possessions. He was really good with DeMelo, and maybe that's the right pair. Otherwise, I'd like to see Samberg on RD with Morrissey. If he can adapt to playing RD, he has exactly the type of profile to complement Morrissey.

The Forbort-Pionk pairing looks quite solid already.

I also think Samberg might look good there.

 

[surixon]

I've been promoting this for some time. The Jets don't seem likely to be real contenders this season and they have to bring in another few young players (Samberg, Heinola, Vesalainen) to take prominent roles next season. They won't develop without playing.

Ves should have been put in last night. Big guy with skating and hands. Its pretty apparent we need more skill to compete.