It was a vacation, let's call it that because that's how the players entered the game in the first 5 minutes last night in Glendale. A cocktail in one hand and a hockey stick in the other. While it would be hard for anyone back in Winnipeg to blame the Jets players for enjoying some reprieve from the gripping winter cold that's not why the team was in Glendale.
They were there to work and they simply took a 'sick' day and increased their record to 1-5 in their last six games. The game was over after the second Coyotes PP goal. That's how little cohesive effort was applied by the Jets. This is not a 'narrative' about compete level, the Jets were there to compete and they did, it's how they competed.
It was as a spectator, hoping the guy you came to the rink with would buy the next round. There was far too much watching the play than engaging in it. The visitors in white were uncertain of their positioning and alarmingly confused about systems. It may not have been entirely their fault as the Coyotes did a lot of things well and right to push the Jets back.
Perhaps it was the unresponsiveness to that push by the Coyotes that had fans up in arms but whatever happened the eye test had the Jets failing, and failing miserably. While the Jets took over the possession battle (thanks War on Ice) they were losing the scoring chance battle in fact the two were almost mirror opposites of each other when looking at in graph form.
You can see those two graphs HERE
What is concerning, at least from a holistic sense, is the return of Bogosian and how he was used. It may lead to understanding of why some defense struggled last night. Would you normally use Pardy against a 5-on-3?
Head coach Paul Maurice was not so much sheltering Bogosian in his return game but managing his minutes. Bogosian saw very little PP time and even less on the PK. If that is a fitness issue why is he back to begin with?
The interesting part of the post-game comments was the admission by Blake Wheeler that the Jets are marked as a high penlaty taking team. Some would suggest that might be a foolish thing to say but the comment is probably correct and it's also a big step towards correcting the problem; knowing you have one.
The challenge now is if the refs know the Jets take penalties are they finding ones where none really exist. That's bias and while it would be easy to say officials should and are unbiased there's much evidence to the contrary. *cough Burrows cough*
Getting upset, as many have, over this game is probably energy misplaced. All teams go through some doldrums and mid-January is often a time where the grind of the season hits many players and teams. It's the halfway point, the middle of winter and the aches and pains add up. The challenge is to get through it. The pessimist says, 'the Jets better hold fast or risk getting into trouble and out of the top 8' but the optimist says, 'there's 4 more players coming back healthy and rested in the next 4 weeks or sooner'.
Where do you sit?