Go take a good hard look at the standings right now. It should be a reality check for even the most optimistic Jets fan wearing the prettiest rose-coloured glasses. As of today the Jets sit just 4 points above the cellar of the league, coincidentally tonight's guest at the MTS Centre. They are just 16 points back of conference rival and league leading Dallas too.
Look at the Wild Card standings now. They are 5 points out of edging Nashville or Minnesota but the wild also have 2 games in hand. Only if they played in the Pacific.
That's the state of the Jets right now. Not quite good enough to be in the mix and not quite bad enough to be thinking about Auston Mathews, yet.
The bigger point here is that the Jets need to start stringing some wins together and the way to do that is to beat the teams below you like the Blue Jackets. That's the task tonight.
How the Jets achieve that task is almost anyone's guess as at times the team appears a bit rudderless to find it's identity and then locks in to look cohesive and dangerous.
It would be nice to see the top line rack up some points together but it also appears head coach Paul Maurice is content to use them against the tough opposition too. Why that is can only be speculated but it would be safe to surmise that it's because he's got a rookie on his bottom two lines and the second line, aside from Perreault, is much more talented offensively than defensively.
Are special teams still an issue? The Jets are still a bottom-5 team on the PP and have little to show for any opportunities at home where they sit at a 13.9% success rate.
Like the PP the PK is nearly just as bad and it's worse at home than on the road too running at 77.8% vs 80.6%.
The reason to focus on special teams is that these are the two most penalized teams in the league, the Jets have 126 minor penalties and 11 majors while the Blue Jackets have 122 minors and 16 majors. The Jet also lead the league in PIM/gm at 13:15. This is a big deal in terms of success as they are closer to playing a full period shorthanded per game than not. Almost two thirds of the league plays less that 10 minutes on the PK per game, just as point of reference.
It's simply an uphill battle for the Jets when they take penalties. It's something that's hurting them more than the brash style of play Paul Maurice tolerates is helping them. That's if you can describe it as brash.
Like the Blue Jackets, the Jets are also top 10 in hits given and perhaps that's an indication to penalties, chasing the play and risking possession to hit? It could mean nothing too.
The bigger challenge for the Jets is it does not get any easier after tonight. Tomorrow they play in Chicago then a few days off before hosting St. Louis and the Rangers.
The grind is officially here and the Jets need to decide if they can change and grind teams down or be ground down themselves.