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Jets pick up 4 points vs Central Division rivals |
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It would be hard to know what the consensus was amongst fans before the Jets set off on a quick two-game road trip to St. Louis and Chicago on back-to-back nights. Frankly anything after Thursday's debacle was up for grabs as the Jets gave fans another reason to scratch their heads with that performance against the Oilers.
What happened though was surprising. They came out and competed and ran with the top dogs of the central and then beat them both.
Against St. Louis Chris Thorburn was the opening goal scorer during a penalty kill as he and Blake Wheeler managed to skate down the ice as an odd-man rush. Wheeler's pass was perfect and the Jets were up 1-0.
It did not take long before St. Louis tied the game and then took the lead in the second period as Steen scored and then Jaskin less than two minutes later. It looked a lot like Thursday night at the MTS Centre and I'm sure a few TVs were turned off.
Something happened though. The Jets settled down and starting playing some hockey. The didn't take over the game, St. Louis still had control of possession but the Jets didn't fade and did't let the Blues take full control of the game.
Now two minutes later after the go ahead goal the stabilizing event happened as the Jets cleared the zone Patrik Laine took the puck and chipped the pass up to little before blazing past Shattenkirk before receiving the pass back and scoring the tying goal. It was a text book give and go play but one rarely executed so well and with such a fine result.
Something clicked there for the Jets. Maybe it was a shot of confidence from the play of Laine and Little, maybe it was a determination to not let another game get away from them. This is one of those times where they picked it up and held on and with no particular reason.
The game time decision had Mark Scheifele sitting out the game so the lines were adjusted and the combination of Little and Laine came to be. While Laine has had success with several players on the Jets he's far from familiar with Little who he spent only a brief time with in the Jets first game of the season.
Call it chemistry, call it kismet, but there was something with those two players on Saturday night in St. Louis. That goal was just the beginning.
What stood out to me was that they seemed to read a play or situation the same way, similar instincts with the puck and positioning. Those who know Bryan Little would describe his play as effective, smart and purposeful with little flash. Take that and add in some one of Laine's skill and things can go crazy. They did in St. Louis
Both players had impressive possession numbers when on the ice and kept the Jets in the game with chances but none were more impressive than OT.
It didn't take long as Maurice put out Byfuglien, Laine and Little with the Jets winning the face-off and getting the puck back to Byfuflien. He paused too a quick look and fed a streaking Laine up the left side while Little seized the opportunity to come down the right towards the middle. Then this happened:
Not only did Little not go straight to the crease he saw that Laine had to get the puck in and around the defender so he had to play it lower to receive any pass.
The show continued in Chicago as Scheifele was missing another game. It was Little who opened the scoring at the end of the second period on the power play. Thus far the Jets had controlled the shot possession of the game and 3/4 of the way through the second period they were pushing it hard putting a considerable edge of the the Blackhawks. With Panarin tying the game in the latter half of the third it almost felt like the mighty Blackhawks would push through and beat the Jets but that was not to happen.
Andrew Copp who had beaten Darling but no the post a few minutes earlier came back down from the other side and put one high up and into the far corner to make it a Jets 2-1 lead. Then they hung on. For. Dear. Life.
It was not Laine's time to shine, rather it was Hellebuyck's as he must have wanted to make up for the performance against Edmonton. If only that was a narrative that was possible to expand upon and prove.
However with Trouba taking a double minor for highsticking, Chicago pulled the goalie and played as a 6-on-4 for over two minutes. With exploding sticks, deflections and eventually a huge crease save with his pad, Hellebuyck and the Jets prevailed in a 2-1 win.
That game Little had a possession metric of 57.89% and Laine 50%. Is it time to let these two stay together?
This is no slight agains the Ehlers Scheifele Laine line but switching out Scheifele for Little might be a smart move, even if we have some limited evidence.
While Maurice has been a bit of a line blender this season due to injuries he's not adverse to riding a hot group as we saw at the end of last season. Giving Ehlers and Laine the support of Little may be a smart move while Scheifele could benefit from the dynamic of Wheeler and Perreault. This doesn't have to be a permanent move but is it not worth exploring a bit further?
This Jets team is a curious bunch. They play well enough to win in the most likely of times. IF you had told me on Wednesday they'd lose by three to Edmonton but and only allow 3 goals from both St. Louis and Chicago combined I'd have laughed you off. But here we are.
Where Paul Maurice is though is another thing. He's got more roster decisions to make after basically having a quarter of his season dictated by injuries. He can't ignore what we all saw on Saturday and Sunday with the duo of Laine and Little but he can't tear up his roster to support it yet either. The latter would not be a bad thing to happen as it means something very good is happening with consistency between Little and Laine.
Who wouldn't want to see more of this?
The issue for Maurice is deciding to pursue this further (he should) and how he makes that happen. Based on some of his player usage so far this season it's questionable as to whether he will or won't and that's where the confusion with many fans comes. In fact it's coming in such a hard way that some are suggesting he's on the hot seat right now. That's crazy talk at least for now let's just see what lines roll out against Detroit on Tuesday.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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