I did not watch the game last night- had a travel day and was out of market so I'm going by the tweets, review and more importantly the numbers. However that being said- did the collective of fan base and media make way to much of this Michael Hutchinson issue?
It was Hutchinson's season debut for the Jets as he has been leading the AHL in basically everything for the better part of this season. Some would suggest that he did not take being sent down the minors well, and the counter point to that belief would be 'what did you expect after last season?'
To be fair this situation was likely awkward for all parties. Hutchinson needs a new contract for next season some where, preferably as a back-up, and he also deserves the chance for accolades too. The Jets needed him ready and also needed to show him some support given that they told him about the start with plenty of notice. In the end a .958 save percentage last night seemed to put away all concerns.
The Jets came into the second period down a goal but it was Patrick Laine with his league leading 12th Power Play goal of the season that got the Jets onto the score sheet and tied the game. Kyle Connor gave the Jets the lead as he basically swept or shovelled the puck past Domingue on his own rebound. It was close to being a PP goal but the time had elapsed however the Lightning player had not joined the play affording the Jets an extended slight advantage.
The Jets entered the 3rd with a 2-1 lead and at 14:35 of the period the dynamic trio of Ehlers, Little and Perreault connected to make it 3-1 and a cruise for the final five minutes of the game to victory. Some times, and particularly on home ice, these Jets wins are almost mechanical and methodical.
Lowry By the Numbers
The Jets were possession beasts against the Lightning, a team that hosted the All-Star festivities and had three players in it. The Jets finished the game with a 58.8% CF and simply out muscled the Bolts by shot generation.
Adam Lowry in his first game back was his dominant self with a 642.9% on-ice CF.
Lowry's line mates Copp and Armia were 58.33% each with him respectively.
Lowry even held the big guns of Stamkos, Kucherov, Namestnikov, and Sergachev in check too.
That was the first game of a 10 game home stand with conference leading Vegas coming in Thursday. This is obviously the Jets time to earn a ton of points and it will be interesting to see what they can convert a possible 20 points into during this stretch. The Jets currently trail the Golden Knights by 2 points but the latter has 2 games in hand. A win Thursday goes a long way to closing the gap but the Jets will still need help.
The Jets are 3 points up on the Predators but again the Preds have 3 games in hand to catch up.The next closest team in the Central is the Blues and they are three points back to but the Jets have a game in hand on them.
Dallas and Minnesota are holding the final two wild card spots in the west and sit at 60 and 59 points respectively with only Minnesota having a game in hand. Keeping this current points pace for the Jets is important and having nine more home games in a row could not come at a better time for the team given the injuries they have and competition coming.