The anti-tank missiles were out in Vancouver last night and the Jets were firing them at Canucks goalie Jacob Markstrom with ease and force. The anti-tankers were very happy last night as the visiting Jets combined for 5 goals while only allowing 2 and the second being late third period goal with the game long out of reach.
The Jets got some puck luck and whole lot of hustle and effort from their youth who seem to round out the line up. Think of it this was, Dennis Beak described Halischuk as veteran last night.
The game was seemingly being run by rather pedestrian Burmistrov and newly acquired hope Marko Dano. The latter of the two had 2 goals but they combined for 5 points in total. It's amazing what some ice time with Mathieu Perreault will do for players. And to think I had some one in my twitter feed telling me he's be expendable after next season due to the depth in LW and C within the Jets organization.
To be fair I was presenting that Postma had not done much with this chances since seeing the ice but he stepped it up huge last night. The curious part was the he was with Ben Chiarot on the bottom pairing, something that did not look promising on paper or before the game.
Want to see the numbers? Check out the data from war-on-ice.com and notice the Event Charts, particularly the Player Corsi one. Look who the 5 guys are above the red line...hmmm.
So what does this make for team tank? It does little as the percentage swings are small and with a 1 in 5 chance of winning the top pick at 20% if you are not last you better be doing something as the season winds down. That's what the Jets are getting from call ups from the farm, such as Julian Melchiori who was an emergency call-up for Byfuglien who is suspected of having the flu.
The Canucks are not a good team, and while it can be easy to boast greatness in a 5-2 win the Jets have their challenges. That's for certain but it's time to understand who is ready to give more time to come camp and next season and who it's time to cut the line with. A swing through western Canada does not leave for much hope for decent evaluation due to competition but it will let the coach and GM see who is trying to make the most of opportunity.
On to Calgary.