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Jets Exorcise Devils but at a cost

November 19, 2017, 2:25 PM ET [18 Comments]
Peter Tessier
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • RSSArchiveCONTACT
It was a bit of a manic few minutes yesterday afternoon at the Bell MTS Centre during the second period between the Jets and Devils. After that segment of time the game was all but decided and over. This was an important game for each team as they were playing a mirror image of each other in many ways more than there identical records. Both had very hot goaltenders and each were riding a bit of concern from a possession stand point and whether the winning could continue without controlling more of the play.

The Jets won the possession battle and they won the game, handily. That's a good thing but it wasn't always that way as much of the first period saw the Jets adjusting to the speed and the attack of the Devils while Connor Hellebuyck did his thing, which is stop pucks. By the end of the period though the Jets had made their adjustments and had closed the gap in shots and possession of the puck, at times forcing Corey Schneider to make key saves.

It was the second period where the damn finally burst and Kyle Connor opened the scoring by driving to the net in front to whack in a rebound off a Wheeler shot. It was a great read by Connor as he got in behind the Devils player for perfect position.

*insert Don Cherry voice*
'Kids, always go to the front of the net, not the side. That's where the puck is and how you do the most damage'

The Devils responded quickly with a shot that Hellebuyck may not have seen but the double 'ping' sound came and at the next whistle the play was reviewed awarding the Devils a goal. It was a bullet of a shot from the slot by Gibbons that no one would have had a chance on.

Then the fun began. Shortly after Nik Ehlers controlled the puck in the Devils zone before making some nifty moves to skate across the ice between the circles and the blue line opening up space. Laine was battling in front and Ehlers saw the potential screen and wristed a shot on net that went off Laine and by Schneider. 35 second later Jacob Trouba scored his first goal of the season.

What stands out on this play is Wheeler getting the puck near the red line at the far side of the ice and instead of charging up his wing or passing back to the defence he sees the Devils aren't setting up so he passes across the ice to Scheifele who gets the entry, tips to Connor who sees a streaking Trouba. It was quite the play and more evidence that Blake Wheeler is a highly underrated passer.

You can see all the goals HERE.

A minute later the fourth line got in on the scoring as Perreault retrieved he puck behind the Devils net and like Gretzky back in the day, he fed a slick pass to Matt Hendricks for his 2nd of the year. Hendricks did a great job to be in position with his stick on the ice too and Schneider again had no chance on the point blank shot.

To put the icing on the cake the same duo combined in reverse as Armia fed Hendricks the puck who took it down to the goal line half way between the net and boards and fed a slick backhand pass to the front. There was Perreault ahead of the coverage waiting to chip it in past Schneider.

Good things happen when you go to the net and the Jets managed three goals by doing it that way. It was certainly nice to see for the fans in attendance who haven't seen that kind of output in a second period in some time.

The Devils managed a goal in the third period but by that point the Jets had a lead and were keeping the game out of reach for a comeback.

Enstrom was injured in the second period and had to be helped off the ice and today it was announced that he could miss up to eight weeks with a lower body/leg injury. The Jets have recalled Tucker Poolman from the Moose.

In light on Enstrom's injury it will be interesting to see if Ben Chiarot, a left-handed player, will finally draw in or if Poolman plays his off side? I'd bet on Chiarot to draw in finally and a bit of balancing done by moving Kulikov up to be with Buff.

Given the speed of the Devils and how they attacked the Jets did well with five defence for the remainder of the game.

Game Notes

Blake Wheeler is now 8th in scoring the NHL while Scheifele is 9th, 25 and 24 points reepectively

Patrick Laine kept his consecutive game point streak alive to 8 games and now has 10 goals on the year.

Dustin Byfuglien was a physical force again yesterday and was asserting himself all over the ice.

The Jets did not get one penalty call for them and only had two against them in the entire game.


Now the critical observations:

Tyler Myers has some concerned with his play based on his decision making. There are times when the lanky defender likes to rush the puck. Going north-south Myers is an effective skater but what he lacks is visions and either decided not to pass or does not realize there are options for him. Too often he wants to do too much by himself and forces some plays that simply are not there offensively and are risky defensively. It's something that doesn't seem to be discussed much or at all, but it's a trend that's starting to become a bit to noticeable.

The Jets were happy to let the Devils rush with speed particularly Hishier and Hall, at least for the first period. However, give credit where it's due, they adjusted and took away a lot of chances later one while countering with their own offence. That was a nice change to see.

If you sat behind either net at this game it was interesting to see how the Devils quickly moved to transition the puck up the ice. It was very different to how the Jets do it and given some of the speed the Jets have it would be interesting to see if the Jets learned and adapted some of the techniques the Devils used.

The next four games are going to be the biggest test for the Jets. They will face Nashville then Anaheim, LA and finish in San Jose before coming home. That's a huge swing against two strong teams and two that are sniffing at the wild card spots. Going .500 on this trip would be great but I expect the Jets have bigger aspirations and they probably should. Yesterday's game when a long way to moving the cautiously optimistic fans a bit more closer to believers.
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