On Wednesday with Blake Wheeler out with an lower body injury, a questionable bottom six forward group Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff made his first acquisition move at the trade deadline. For a 2016 third round pick and a conditional 5th or 6th pick in 2015 he acquired Jiri Tlusty from Carolina and last night the newest Jet made his debut.
While not some stunning performance, he barely made it in town before the morning skate, he provided just enough to keep the game rolling for the Jets as they faced on of the top team in the west in St. Louis. More importantly though it was the rest of the Jets that seemed to respond to Chevy's move than the player acquired.
The Jets came out and held the Blues to 4 first period shots while firing 11 of their own on Brian Elliot. More importantly they continued to match St. Louis in possession and scoring chances.
You can see here from the charts at War on Ice
The Jets were so positive in so many areas that it was like they had all spent time with Stuart Smalley. Perhaps that was simply a response to what Cheveldayoff did for the team.
Think about it this way- last year the Jets could have made a deal, they could have tried to fill in for the injured Mark Scheifele but held fast despite being close to the playoff top 8. This year they are in the top 8, have held on and battled through adversity and in return the GM rewarded them with help. More importantly a smart acquisition and one that is connected to impending UFA Michael Frolik, a childhood friend of his and Pavelec's.
What the fans saw last night was the response for the team, as complete a game played in a long time with defensive presence that looked like the team of November-December and with the same level of goaltending. As Scott Billeck said "this was may have been the best game of the season in the MTS Centre". While the Pittsburgh game probably is better from an entertainment value the game last night was not dis-similar.
There was emotion, action, hits, scrums and nearly a fight plus many battles and that has been lacking from the Jets of late. The essence here is the Jets stood up and went toe-to-toe with a conference heavyweight, playing their own game, and took it to the shootout where Michael Hutchinson was finally defeated this year.
The bigger picture is that the Jets are going to win more games than lose playing that style of game- however it works for them. While disappointment was prevalent in the crowd after the game most were happy and saying 'hello old friend' as they saw the Jets play to their strengths and that has no happened since the all-star break.