Post-Game Talk: White Out on the Horizon, Jets 5 - Lames 2

[WolfHouse]

I’m constantly wondering why Connor is so far away from the net. Even on the PP he stands closer to the boards than the faceoff dot. He needs to get to the spot where if the two guys covering Vilardi and Monahan have their sticks on them Schiefele can make the pass between the two of them to Connor. But Connor stands so high he’s covered by the same guy that’s covering Monahan.

There was a play in the 3rd where there was a battle in the left wing corner, Vilardi comes out o the scrum with it and Connor is standing at about 4:00 on the RW faceoff circle. Vilardi make the pass through from the corner to the front of the net but Connor was too high to get it. Vilardi made another pass from the side of the net backwards between his legs right through the crease and again Connor (pretty sure it was Connor)was too high.

Connor needs to get closer and he will be fine. But he has to start doing it.

Feels like Connor and Scheif both start reverting to the old Wheeler power play - which really was a hard cross-ice pass/one-timer or a shot from the edge... you can see Scheif acts like the puck is a hot potato or over-handles it looking for a lane - there's not much in between - Connor is there for the one-timer Laine style

Meanwhile Monahan/Vilardi really keep moving - then they both have about 3 options when they do get the puck....

 

[Channelcat]

Miller makes me nervous. This feels weird to say, but give me Stanley over him any day.

I was concerned about that pairing, fully expected Miller to be rusty, but he looked ok. It actually feels weird to have 3 righties out there. That being said, I agree it's very tough to sit 64 right now.

 

[Buffdog]

9 shots on goal for Vilardi tonight. Guy's hands are absolutely insane in tight spaces.

Connor, Scheifele, Monahan, and Vilardi were the only forwards that broke 14 minutes. They all played over 21 minutes. Weird deployment. Bowness needs to get back to rolling lines, if not balancing them a bit better.

Schief was the only forward to play more than 14 minutes at 5v5. Looks like 4th line got close to 9 minutes

Thr 4 you mentionned all had over 5 minutes of PP time

 

[rkp]

That dirty bastard Popsicle is lucky he got thrown out because Lowry was going to throttle him when he got out of the box .

him and wilson from the caps need top be out of the game

 

[Hobble]

It was a tale of two games.
For whatever reason, Bones decided to put Scheifele and Connor back together. Then for the first half of the second period they got outshot something like 17-4.
Thankfully he came to his senses and put Ehlers back in the first line, and what do you know, the team looks great again.
Without Vilardi, we are not the same team. We need his talent on the pp.

Based on his post-game reasoning:

After watching Scheif-Ehlers have one shaky period: Ehlers is out the door faster than an emergency row seat in a Boeing 737.

After watching Scheif-Connor be poor defensively for an entire season: “Let them cook…”

 

[Jets 31]

Monahan for our 1st is looking like a very good trade if you ask me. I like his game and he's better defensively than i thought.

 

[MarkWheeler]

At least Vilardi's always a benefit to the team when he's healthy. Dubois hurts his team when he's off. Last season he played half the season injured and hurt the team because of it. He had 48 points in his first 41 games, 15 in his final 32 instead of getting healthy for the playoffs and dragged the team down in the process.

Totally agree, I love him when he’s healthy and think he’s a way more useful player than Dubois. I just have a hard time even picturing staying healthy for the rest of the season and the playoffs.

 

[Buffdog]

I think the hand-wringing over Bones throwing out different line combos is being blown out of proportion. The Jets have clinched and are playoff bound, with the Avs almost certainly our first round opponent. Consider the following scenarios in the 1st round:

1. Injury in the top 6
2. Mackinnon line caving ESV, or some other line matchup challenge
3. ESV goes goes dry and no other lines are going (like they did after christmas)

Bones is going to need options. This is the time to tinker around, not when it's 2-0 in a game where we're down 2-1 in a series and facing a comeback to win a must-win game. This is the time to do it

 

[Dirtbag151]

Monahan for our 1st is looking like a very good trade if you ask me. I like his game and he's better defensively than i thought.

I was saying the same thing last night he's always back checking and digging pucks out, He's our best face off guy 'goes to the net' and is decently consistent with scoring
Id keep him if we can

 

[Channelcat]

I was saying the same thing last night he's always back checking and digging pucks out, He's our best face off guy 'goes to the net' and is decently consistent with scoring
Id keep him if we can

I feel like Monahan is the grizzled vet that could teach 55 a few things.....but 55 is actually 2 years older

 

[Jets 31]

Totally agree, I love him when he’s healthy and think he’s a way more useful player than Dubois. I just have a hard time even picturing staying healthy for the rest of the season and the playoffs.

One good thing is he's young enough to bounce back from these injuries , last year in the playoffs he really stood out to me when i watched Kings games.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Apples has to be the guy, he's useless.

Same number of games as Iafallo - 11 more points.

 

[Huffer]

This was just a a little after the 1st switch, so not sure what the final metrics by lines are:

 

[Jack7222]

This was just a a little after the 1st switch, so not sure what the final metrics by lines are:

I guess Garrett doesn't have access to the Org's proprietary secret analytics showing why CSV is actually really good and why Ehlers should never be top line. They are professionals with years of experience, after all.

 

[ThinIce61]

He is not. I'm not sure how you came to this conclusion.

It's based mostly on who Bowness has sat when someone needed to be sat due to roster limits. It has rotated amongst the same few players all season, not just something I pulled out of my ass. Don't appreciate the implied snark in your response. You don't know 100% that Perfetti won't be out of the lineup in a week or so. None of us other than Bowness knows what he's going to do. Go away.

 

[Adam da bomb]

Same number of games as Iafallo - 11 more points.

Plus iafallo got to play top 6.

 

[surixon]

It's based mostly on who Bowness has sat when someone needed to be sat due to roster limits. It has rotated amongst the same few players all season, not just something I pulled out of my ass. Don't appreciate the implied snark in your response. You don't know 100% that Perfetti won't be out of the lineup in a week or so. None of us other than Bowness knows what he's going to do. Go away.

Yeah but before Cole hit his slide he was never out of the lineup. So if his game is back up to pre slump levels and it looks like it is then Bones won't take him out based on the first half.

 

[BoneDocUK]

As per Bones in the presser, it seems like the line switchup that resulted in the shitty second period was an experiment to see if there was any chemistry, and Bones acknowledged that it wasn't the best idea after the fact. So Maybe he's starting to understand... maybe not.. who knows lmao

It's a weird one. I get switching things up if the team's looking to catch up from behind, or between games if a line is getting caved in or not producing, but Bones seems to have a very itchy trigger finger these days. Reminds me a bit of Jasper (sic) from the Simpsons.

"Missed check? That's a line swap!"
"Shooting wide? Line swap!"
"Blown coverage? That's a line swap!"
"Too much east-west? Hell yeah, line swap!"
"Gettin' all fancy-Dan? Ya betcha that's a line swap!"

But a clinch is better than a clench, and great to see Gabe with the hatty and some better link play from the team with playoffs getting close. Would like to see some key players rested now so they can come back and bloody well Mark Stone it into the first round.

Congrats, HFJetsers! Onwards and hopefully upwards!

 

[BoneDocUK]

I hope the next few games are good for him - especially against those central teams that are playoff bound.
He looks good and I hope he can carry that confidence into these tougher matchups - but he's not a sure thing - he can't let up.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the whole team responds to those tough games - ending on a high note is very important for this team IMO.

Agree with the bolded -- this team is Fuelled by Confidence.

I thought Cole played a strong game -- he was mixing it up, stealing pucks and even trying the ol' KFC shimmy to buy some room for that Eels assist.

IIRC he also just flat-out shoved a Flame off the puck during one of the PPs and fed the point. Are we witnessing Angry Cole emergent?

 

[raideralex99]

This POS needs to be taken out like the garbage. POSpisil has been doing this for a while but doesn't fight when challenged because he has had too many concussions ... seriously he said that.

 

[Flair Hay]

I think we have pre malaise Koal back, who's a legit, 60 point top 6 winger.

I don't think there's a chance in hell that happens.

I can't believe I'm going to say this, but Appleton is playing the best hockey of his career right now and I don't think he should or will come out.

Iafallo plays a pretty mistake free game. Sure, his production isn't great, but how many times do you remember a bad defensive play happening and thinking "f***, Alex!" You need players that you can 100% trust in the playoffs, so no way I'm pulling him out.

I love Barron. I'm always praying he finds a way to start producing a little more. He is a bull, gives heavy effort, and doesn't hurt you. I'd hate to pull him out, but this is the complication of having an extremely deep forward corps.

When healthy, our black aces are:

Kup Gus Barron
Stanley Miller

And further insurance:

Axel Toni
Heinola Capo

You have to feel really good having legit NHL talent practically half a team deep just salivating at the chance to play.

I get it, and I'd have no issues with him being a lineup fixture.

Just saying if I were a betting man (I am sometimes lol) that it will be Barron starting on the 4th line and not Cole. He will also have by far the shortest leash. I could elaborate on the why, but I'm not trying to justify the decision. Just point out based on our coach that is what I am expecting if we are healthy.

 

[tarozi]

On the PP, I would like to see 55 anywhere he doesn't have to handle the puck. Too many years of playing with Wheeler has rubbed off on him. He is more a trigger man not a half wall guy.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Monahan for our 1st is looking like a very good trade if you ask me. I like his game and he's better defensively than i thought.

I wonder if we will keep him?
How much term and cap will it take? How much would be wise to give him?

 

[Jet]

I get it, and I'd have no issues with him being a lineup fixture.

Just saying if I were a betting man (I am sometimes lol) that it will be Barron starting on the 4th line and not Cole. He will also have by far the shortest leash. I could elaborate on the why, but I'm not trying to justify the decision. Just point out based on our coach that is what I am expecting if we are healthy.

I also get the logic behind dressing Baron in favor of Cole.

However, Perfetti can take the decision out of the coach's hands by continuing to produce while not playing a risky game. I think Bones wants Cole in the top 6 - he had no problem stapling him there and even leaving him there for quite a few games after his production and confidence fell off a cliff.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I think the hand-wringing over Bones throwing out different line combos is being blown out of proportion. The Jets have clinched and are playoff bound, with the Avs almost certainly our first round opponent. Consider the following scenarios in the 1st round:

1. Injury in the top 6
2. Mackinnon line caving ESV, or some other line matchup challenge
3. ESV goes goes dry and no other lines are going (like they did after christmas)

Bones is going to need options. This is the time to tinker around, not when it's 2-0 in a game where we're down 2-1 in a series and facing a comeback to win a must-win game. This is the time to do it

He needs to experiment with Connor - Scheifele? Really?