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Hat Trick for Patrik vs Mathews |
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Don't read too much into it, unless you are a Leafs fan and you want to hear the phrase 'it was 4-1' but this was a barn burner of a game.
I'll be frank, I had to turn away from the train wreck that was the Jets offensive and defensive play and watch the train wreck that was Donald Trump. It was that bad, although the Jets were getting attempts they were from the outside and of lesser quality.
I've been citing possession stats lately and for the first 40 minutes you would think the Jets were the better team had you used just those. The eye-test would suggest that while shooting the puck a lot the Jets were far from getting quality shots. That was the Leafs, who like Carolina, owned the centre of the ice and made the Jets pay for it by opening up a 4-0 lead. That was before Tyler Myers opened the scoring for the Jets at 13:04 of the second period.
Jets rookie Patrik Laine made his mark in the early minutes of the third when he wheeled just outside the slot and ripped a wrist shot up over Andersen and off the cross bar and down. It was 4-2. Five minutes later Mark Scheifele got his third of the season with an assist from Josh Morrissey.
By this point the tide was turning in the Jets favour. Paul Maurice had put the lines in the blender to shake things up and it was working. The Jets pushed the play and it showed as they starting getting more chances and pulled away from the Leafs, at least in terms of possession. With 14 minutes left to play the Jets charged on.
With a late penalty to Morgan Reilly for cross-checking Patrik Laine took advantage and scored the game-tying goal with a minute left. That was number 2.
The Jets held on to OT and then the rodeo began. Some times 3-on-3 can be a tentative game until some one makes a mistake and in this case no one was afraid of taking that risk. There were chances a galore but it was Mathews who was sprung free all alone on Jets goalie Michael Hutchinson who came up big before Dustin Byfuglien fed the puck across the ice to Patrick Laine who took it up the right side and came in on the Leafs with Ehlers for a 2-on-1 but instead of passing he wired another wrist shot up and over Andersen and with that completed the 5 goal comeback. The hat trick for Patrik was done all the while playing agains the player taken right before him.
While exciting and a great win there were some warts on this game and like the only other Jets win it was a long come from behind effort.
The Jets were like pastry chefs in the first period, turnovers for everyone. They cheated on zone exits and gave up the middle of the ice like it was the red carpet for the queen. They were easily checked off the puck and were not looking for passes or waiting for the receiver to be open. In fact it says a lot that they figured it out at all after going down 4-1.
The good news is that the guy everyone wanted to see come out on top did. Patrick Laine was stellar when facing his draft class alumni Austen Mathews. That's a results based comment not a head-to-head conclusive analysis.
In the end Jets fans can celebrate and mock all the Leafs fans who were there now but lest they forget how ugly it could have been.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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