The Afterburners: Jets Lose On Late Goal To Ovechkin And The Capitals

Somewhere TJCAPS is rubbing his hands together with glee. Next time Gadget. Next time.

The Jets fell to the Washington Capitals by a score of 1-0 via a goal by the loathed Alex Ovechkin, bringing an end to the Jet's 5 game home winning streak. The Jets had started the night strong and had gone into the 1st intermission with a 14-7 shot advantage, but they eventually saw both that and their their play drop off as the game went through it's course.

Strong starts have been the forte of the Jets as the season has developed, but this time the Capitals were have all the answers defensively. They then upped the pressure until an innocent enough looking 2 on 2 with a little over a minute remaining saw an Ovie shot go 5 hole on Ondrej Pavelec and the Jets attack with the extra attacker was as ineffective as their attack at even strength and the power play tonight. they managed 26 shots on goal, but only truly threatened a few times early on.

The Caps were not particularly threatening either, as they seemed content to sit back and pick off the Jets' long searching passes, which were nowhere near as accurate as they needed to be and the Caps were repeatedly able to counterattack with numbers.

Boxscore and Ten Thoughts after THE JUMP

The Jets had an opportunity to seize a hold of a spot within the top 8 in the conference for the first time this season. While letting that opportunity slip by is dissapointing, it's important to know that at the end of the season no one gives a damn who won the game in Winnipeg on December 15. There are 51 games left in this season, so it's not the end of the world.

That being said that was not the best hockey the Jets have played and I expect better in the future. For starters the power play was putrid. Never showed a real threat tonight, going 0 for 4 and never really generating any opportunities.

I will also be calling out Andrew Ladd tonight. You're the leader of this team? Well you need to do the motivational stuff. That means shots on goal, learning how to deal and accept passes. Maybe start a fight when your team is dragging ass. Something to light a fire under your team.

Looking for better in the future. The returns of Tobias Enstrom and Nik Antropov on Saturday against the Ducks should be a decent spark to deliver a good performance. There will be a lot of emotion in that building, and if that doesn't inspire you to play great I don't know what does.

1st Period: No Scoring

2nd Period: No Scoring

3rd Period: 18:46 Washington ES Goal, Alex Ovechkin (10) (Marcus Johansson, Nicklas Backstrom

Shots: Winnipeg 26, Washington 28

3 Stars: 1) Michal Neuvirth 2) Ondrej Pavelec 3) Jason Chimera

10 Thoughts:

• The Jets actually did quite well countering a number of odd man rushes that came their way, as very few resulted in shots on goal. But that was a dangerous way of playing the game, and too often defenders got caught pinching.
• I already said it but the powerplay was garbage.
• The top line of Evander Kane, Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler amassed 4 total shots. Eric fehr matched that total by himself.
• The Jets actually did a good job shutting down the Ovie, Backstrom, Semin line but ultimately it was them who found the back of the net. They managed 6 shots tonight, but it just takes 1 sometimes. This was one of those times.
• Ondrej Pavelec looked sharp for the most part, but methinks he'll want the one that eluded him back. A clear line of sight, from a decent distance and no defelctions should spell save.
• Mark Stuart plays a ballsy style of defending every night. 3 blocks tonight keeps him in the league lead with 86.
• The most dangerous looking players for the Jets early on were Jason Jaffray and Eric Fehr. That's good in a "hey our depth guys have offensive punch" and bad in a "our 4th line guy was more dangerous than 10 other forwards?!" way.
• The reffing consistency in this league is almost as frustrating as the linesmen. No consistency in icing calls, and they seemed completely blind on offsides. Which doesn't get me started on how often Jim Slater gets kicked out of faceoffs.
• 4 games left on this home stand. Maximum points would be lovely. Because like it or not, taking maximum points in these games will make or break a playoff run for a team on the bubble
• #Teemureturns happens on Saturday, as Teemu Selanne and the Ducks arrive in town. Let's beat him for old times sake.

So much for the high scoring, all the bounces go our way affair I was hoping for. This really puts a damper on my hopes for the ARCTIC ICE HOCKEY HOLIDAY JETS CONTEST!

Not a terrible effort tonight, but obviously you won't win if you don't score. Actually that's not true because some short guy put shootouts in the game. Whatever. It's not the end of the road, just like the Boston win wasn't the best thing since sliced bread.

GO JETS GO