The Winnipeg Jets are getting the snot punched out of them as they continue on this 4 game road trip through the heart of the Central Division. Last night they gave up another clear shot uppercut when Hemsky scored on a breakaway although they were able to stagger back into the game and tie it. But the damage was done.
Dallas had landed so many shots that when the Jets had a double minor power play they could barely muster anything resembling a dangerous scoring chance. Then it all went down the way is usually has for the Jets soon after that power play finished when Byfuglien got called on a wonderful make up call. It was like getting a beer bottle smashed over the back of your head as you try to defend yourself.
That was all the Stars needed to get the lead before they put it too far away with 2 empty net goals as the Jets and their fans are left scratching their heads about what is wrong and why it happens over and over again.
Let's talk defines first. This is a bit like a chicken and the egg scenario but we'll try starting the discussion with this question: are the defence to aggressive with their push inward on the offensive zone or are they doing this as reaction to the forwards play?
As I tweeted last night is it "defence players or defence systems' as the Jets rarely seem to hold the blue line of keep control of the puck down low on the cycle any more. The reality is when possession is lost the opposition, especially of late, is turning that puck and getting up past the Jets forwards if not the defence too. That's either awareness or tactic i.e player or system.
So are the defence pushing more because they are trying to hold possession in the O-zone because the forwards are losing it or are they practicing a strategy that encourages that kind of push? The result is the same but understanding why it's happening is the key to fixing it and right now no one, not a player or a coach has given any clue as to how the problem keeps repeating.
That is concerning and something that the team needs to focus on but once again is it a by-product of other events?
Look at the forecheck right now and that might give some clues. A few times last night the Jets came in and fought for possession but the when battling Dallas just cleared the puck the other way behind the net recovered it, unencumbered too, and was out of their zone on the far side before the Jets had moved from the scrum. It was like they knew where the Jets players would be and used the holes.
That's the point many are making right now, the book is out on how to play them and two central division teams apparently read that book quickly and saw that it was not very complicated to execute. Who's fault is that?
Hockey is a relatively simple game. You move the puck up the ice and fire it at a target and if you miss you try to recover it and do that again. If you are the team without the puck your job is to disrupt that process. Are the Jets playing against teams who have figured out how to disrupt them effectively and with frequency or is this a bit of luck and chance that is finally not going the Jets way? Once could argue both points.
It takes three points to make a plane, at leas that's what I learned in math and science. If the Jets show the same problems in either of the next two games then their is probably a trend that is beyond a quick fix. It's a systemic problem that will require more than shuffling the bottom two lines and those kinds or problems always take more time than coaches or fans have to figure out.