Was the win over Chicago convincing enough for you? Do you feel that the team is turning a corner now that it is almost healthy, players have been sent down and some may be returning in the not so far off future?
Tonight represents a huge step in that confidence, right?
The problem with the Jets thus far this season is that they take two steps forward and often then take on or three steps backwards right after. As much as this game tonight against the Blue Jackets represents an opportunity for the Jets, it also presents a very real opportunity to fall back into old habits and predictable patterns.
Let's be honest, a loss here, in typical Jets fashion is going to set off a alarm bells. In some ways it should and in other ways it should reaffirm what many have concluded, that the Jets are 'there' in some capacities but lack in others. Thus the results are what we see, inconsistent play and results.
The Blue Jackets are hot, actually they are surface of the sun hot with a 13-game win streak. They have a plus 46 goal differential and have an away record of 10-2-3. The crazy aspect to all of this is that the Blue Jackets are not even at 50% Corsi on the year at even strength.
There is a bubble forming for Columbus, and it's in the form of PDO. They sit at 103.24 with a 9.07% shooting rate and .941 save percentage. Consider this, since 2007 no team has sustained an average PDO of over 101. In short-term look of the past 2.5 seasons there are a few teams that average out to 102 over that time but looking longer they all go down. Even if you look at last season the top 4 teams in PDO all had goalies playing at ridiculous rates of stopping pucks. So is that sustainable with Columbus?
That's not the Jets problem. Well not a problem they can control.
There issues is dealing with whatever Columbus is serving. Depth forwards and bottom pairing defence have been the main problem for the Jets and it's something that Columbus should be looking to exploit. The reality for the Jets thus far has been that as long as the top line(Ehlers, Scheifele, Laine) is scoring the team has been okay most nights regardless of their possession numbers.
This game is a different beast altogether, they (the top line) may not get away with dragging the possession down. At some point they are going to have to carry their weight and against the toughest opposition that might be the time to start. It also means tactically that perhaps Maurice should think about deploying Perreault, Little and Wheeler against the tough opposition.
Take some pressure off the young guys and let the vets, who can carry the load take over at least until some sort of determination can be made to whether this is a good idea or not. That could be a shift, 10 shifts, a period or longer.
Frankly, instead of juggling lines as Maurice is so used to doing he might find success in where he deploys his lines instead. That's a major tactical change and one that he seems loathe to do. Hi approach has usually been to see if chemistry against opposition evolves rather than choosing his match-ups to such a specific degree.
Shelter and protect vs deploy and use last change advantage.
Sure tonight is a test, a big one, and five years ago the Jets were a team (and Winnipeg a place) where streaks came to die. Tonight marks a chance to repeat a bit of long forgotten history. Let's see what happens because with this team predicting the results are still as good as a wild ass guess.