Something has been brewing with the Jets, in particular Jacob Trouba for the last little while. Let's rephrase that, something within the Winnipeg Jets, in particular Jacob Trouba, has been bubbling away, in a good way.
The Jets came out and on the second game of back to back games in Florida and played a solid road period. There's the cliche again but this was in case what happened. They kept pace with the Panthers who, according to Paul Maurice before the game, 'throw everything at the net and bring it right up the middle'. The fireworks, rather scoring happened again in the second period as the Jets opened up a two-goal lead with Shawn Mathias tipped a slick Paul Postma shot from the point past Roberto Luongo. After Patrik Laine took a great Bryan Little pass and took a tight one-timer to blast it past Luongo for the extra goal lead.
Again, this is something that Jets fans are not familiar with in the second period, scoring by the Jets.
The Panthers were able to get one back by Greg McKegg but that was as far as they could get. It wasn't without chances or effort as the home team pushed the play. Connor Hellebuyck was solid again in his second consecutive start and while his stats did not show it last night his .969 save percentage tonight was more than enough and showed how solid he was facing 32 shots.
The real story was the play of Trouba and Little both of whom set up great goals. Little set up both Ehlers and Laine while Trouba took a slick Laine pass and brought it low behind Loungo, battled well and moved it out front before Scheifele buried it for the 4-1 lead. Trouba also played the penalty kill well and moved the puck out of his zone with confidence and authority. Ekblad who?
That's not so much a comparison, but an example of who any fan would notice on the ice tonight when looking at defence Trouba was definitely in charge. This is the player many remember coming into the league two season ago. Confident and determined but without the brash disregard for civility that he showed with his hits. This is the player Trouba's agent believed he could be and now that he has settled in he's taking over.
Bryan Little on the other hand did what he always does, be a quiet and effective possession player. There has been some talk that Little should perhaps spend a bit more time with Laine and perhaps Ehlers and with setting up each tonight perhaps that happens by design more than chance in the future.
The reality of this two-game win streak is that Jets fans are feeling rather pumped right now. They see a team win in two ways, hanging on and then outplaying. That's a good sign but it's also nothing to get to caught up with. These wins are important but let's not get fooled with two steps forward going two or three back.
The Jets will have a day off before traveling to Buffalo to finish off the three game road trip. Perhaps a bit of night out in south beach is warranted but nothing to extreme, just like they way they are playing.