King Crown Jets in Winnipeg
This was a bit of a throwback to 2011 when teams on streaks came into the MTS Centre and a barn burner of a match ensued and tonight was no different. Well there was something different, the Jets did not come out on top as they used to, but there was much to be impressed with.
First Nik Ehlers was his usually trigger-happy self scoring the lone Jets goal to open the scoring. Ehlers was dangerous all night and hit another crossbar in the first period before he scored in the second. That being said the King pushed back and before long the game was tied by the time it hit the third period.
Tyler Myers struggled for the Jets, as he was often a bit behind the play and unfortunately had his stick in the wrong place as the Kings put a puck off it and into the Jets net. It was a case of bad luck for the lanky defender as he did everything he could to negate and odd-an rush off a face-off deep in the King end.
The goat on that play was Blake Wheeler who left the face off going forward without seeing where the puck was. In the end it was on his opposite player’s, Lucic’s, stick as he charged forward and took possession of the puck alone and unchecked.
The Jets mounted a valiant effort in the final few minutes and one could say they got a bit of raw deal as Perreault was blatantly tripped in the Kings end with the extra man out. In the end the royalty won out and potted two empty net goals to make it appear a more lop-sided game than it was.
What was clear from the eye-test perspective was that the King started to pull away about mid-way through the second period. They clogged the neutral zone and put pressure on the Jets in all areas of the ice. As shown below by the great site War-on-Ice.com The Jets slowly lost control of the game from the midway period on.
There are positives for the Jets as they can learn about how to manage the game but that can be tough when playing a team like the Kings, they are big and fast and play a tough style that makes the opposition work for space on the ice. The Jets need to bring their speed sooner in a game and continue it throughout the game.
As expected the Jets on mass did not hold their heads above water and like Myers/Chiarot the Ladd, Little Wheeler also struggled tonight.
That being said it was a good bounce back game for Trouba after he laid a big stinker on Sunday. One game left on the home stand and thats against Chicago Thursday, it just doesn’t get any easier in the Central Division.