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Duck Shot- Jets Give Anaheim Free Flight |
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In his return the ovation came. For thirty seconds the MTS faithful saluted their former hero from a team years ago as a tribute video played. However the story would not be about Selanne, at least if you care about the nuances and issues that face, or plague, the Winnipeg Jets.
After two period the Jets were behind in shots 25-12 with the Ducks having their way in the offensive zone for the latter 5 minutes of the second period. Shots, they are a problem for the Jets, and in more ways than one.
With many seeing shots from the Jets missing the net through two periods it was time to look at that stat for the previous two seasons. The Jets were 4th worst in missed shots in 2011-12 and 6th worst in 2012-13. Curiously the Jets were not nearly as bad when the puck was coming at them. In 2011-12 they were dead in the middle at 15th in shots allowed and last season they were 18th. So tonight when the Jets had not mustered a shot in the third until 8 minutes in the idea of taking advantage of a team that played Saturday night and flying in seemed awfully distant.
Yet this is what the fans at the MTS Centre were left to watch. Clear lanes opening up on the transition counter attack for any Duck player, poor effort to battle in the corners and along the boards to gain possession plagued the Jets. But the most concerning part was the fire drill in front of the net as Ondrej Pavelec was left to do what so many say he not very good at doing, making more saves.
It would be hard for even the most negative fan to criticize Pavelec tonight. Even when the Ducks tied the game with 4.2 seconds left in the second period no one could fault Pavelec for that goal. There was plenty to fault the skaters in front of him though. Fore checks where two Jets were easily outworked for the puck and left deep behind the net to chase the play back up the ice. One-handed stick swings at lose pucks as Jets players did a fly-by instead of stopping and battling. So much that happened was the same things kids are asked not to do.
The other thing that kids are asked to do is compete, put in a full effort and eventually good things will happen. It’s almost like the hockey version of ‘karma’. The Jets put in nothing in the third period and they had exactly nothing to show for the 20 minutes. The inevitable will happen, over-reaction, scrutiny but the all-encompassing question of ‘consistency’ is now front and centre.
What does that mean now only three games into the season? Well it points to the core, to the leadership and to the coaching, the same questions (less goaltending thankfully) that have dogged this team since it arrived in Winnipeg.
Noel isn’t happy, and surely his post game conference will be a bit surly in nature but why isn’t that happening on the bench? With the extra attacker the Jets could not figure out how to move the puck out their own end wasting valuable time. So where is the leadership in situations like this? Who steps up to be the voice of reason and provide stability?
That’s part of the change that happened this past summer right? Move out some of the voices, the examples in favour of a new regime. Well three games in there may be questions rearing their head, the same from last year and the year before. Of course it’s a small sample size, only three games in but the problems are not unfamiliar. In fact they are far too familiar and that’s why they come out so fast, again and again.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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