|
Jets win 4-1, some numbers and thoughts on the massacre |
|
|
|
|
|
It's time for a few people to face the simple facts about this Jets team, despite some obvious areas of concern, bottom two pairings, the Jets are about as balanced a roster as you can find in the league right now and playing their best hockey to date.
It is however going to get a bit more difficult for them but the pressure is now all on the home team, more importantly Deven Dubnyk as he cannot continue to play like he has if the Wild plan on doing something in this series. That may seem a bit harsh on the guy given how many shots he's seen let alone shot attempts but he has not made saves, 'timely saves' as some would say.
The basic problem for the Wild right now is not the injuries, not the depth compared to Winnipeg or any physical reality of the roster. The problem is how they overcome a deficiency in offence based on how they play. The simply do not play fast enough in a way that will allow them to beat other teams, i.e. their pace of play as it relates to shots is way too slow.
I put this out on Twitter today and it's worth sharing again I believe:
The Wild simply cannot sustain giving up that level of shot volume and from the areas they have these past two games. While game one was a better performance for them they were only able to score and actually get a lead when they capitalized on the Jets mistakes. They have to find a way to do so again at home.
Last night, the Wild had an early power play and had a shot lead of 5-0 and then the Jets did their ''thing". They slowly started getting their groove, and the puck, and started shooting. The Jets tied the shots at 7 apiece and then took a lead of 13-9 by the intermission. The Wild managed 8 more shots for the next 40 minutes. EIGHT. Just eight.
The above is the graphic representation of the beating the Wild received and frankly what's going to prevent it from happening again? That's the question Bruce Boudreau must solve right now and nothing his thugs (wannabe Winnik) did in the final minute to end the game will have any effect on game three. There was no warning there, no fear, no anything.
Three of the Wild's four centres were below 30% CF and that's being courteous as the highest of those was only at 25% that was a Koivu. Mikko Freaking Koivu.
The lone adjustment that Paul Maurice made was putting Andrew Copp with Little and Roslovic and moving Joel Armia to play with Lowry and Tanev. It seemed to pay off as Copp had a very strong game with Roslovic and Little getting a goal while the rookie Roslovic had two assists.
Lowry Tanev and Armia- well they simply made a mess for the Wild when they were on the ice and that was ideal because it simply let space happen for everyone else. A fun thing to do is to go look at a shift chart and see how Maurice used his lines- I don't think he even cared who was on the ice particularly for the 27-25-29 trio, he just rolled them out against Dumba, Spurgeon, or whoever. He did the same with almost all his lines and they never got tired.
Only two players on the Jets broke the 20 minute mark and they were Byfuglien and Trouba while the Wild had 3 in Dumba 26mins Brodin 23mins and Spurgeon at 22mins. The Wild trailed the game 3-0 at the mid point of the third period and Boudreau was not even trying to get his strongest players out more frequently. Does that seem confusing to anyone or is it simply him realizing there was no point and he had more battles to fight?
Here's something else to think about. The Jets in two games are averaging 66.15% CF. That's not going to be sustainable forever but why this statistic is valuable and important is because it shows how the ice is tilted. Right now it's all downhill for the Jets but given the way playoff series work it won't stay that way and the task and challenge for Paul Maurice will be when he's going up hill and how they manage it.
The better team is winning, the opposition coach knows it, the fans know it and it's likely the Wild players know it too. Don't expect them (the Wild) to accept it though and Sunday night will be much harder for sure but I doubt it changes who wins this series.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
Join the Discussion:
»