The Afterburners: Jets Punched Out In Boston

It's been often stated, but how long before they take themselves out of the challengers circle to wallow with those who have already lost their right to face the champ come April?

With each passing round in tonight's bout, there was reason to believe the Jets could be the second straight upset to the champ.

They had to know the champ would come out of their corner strong and looking to make up the points they lost early on. All the Jets had to do was circle away from Boston's dominant hand, land their jabs when they were available and avoid trading blows.

What happened in tonight's third period was the exact opposite of what Winnipeg's corner was telling them. They didn't watch the overhand right. Then they panicked and started to believe that now, surely they had to stand in the wheelhouse and trade shots with their strong competition. Well, the results spoke for themselves.

Winnipeg will now head home to nurse their bumps and bruises before Thursday's match-up with the San Jose Sharks.

Their fan base can only hope that they follow their corners instructions in that one.

First Period: 16:53 Winnipeg ES Goal, Andrew Ladd (14) (Zach Bogosian, Tobias Enstrom); 19:20 Boston ES Goal, Nathan Horton (13) (Milan Lucic, David Krejci)

Second Period: 00:31 Winnipeg ES Goal, Blake Wheeler (9) (Tobias Enstrom, Zach Bogosian); 05:16 Boston SH PS Goal, Shawn Thornton (4) (unassisted); 11:11 Winnipeg ES Goal, Eric Fehr (1) (Tim Stapleton)

Third Period: 00:08 Boston ES Goal, Nathan Horton (14) (David Krejci, Milan Lucic); 03:06 Boston ES Goal, Tyler Seguin (17) (Patrice Bergeron); 06:41 Boston PP Goal Benoit Pouliot (8) (Patrice Bergeron, Rich Peverley)

Shots: Winnipeg 32, Boston 42

Three Stars: 1. Nathan Horton 2. Shawn Thornton 3. David Krejci

10 Thoughts

• Heading into this game, Winnipeg had a .941 Win % when leading after two periods. Well, it's lower now.
• Chris Thorburn showed a great individual effort to strip Dennis Seidenberg of the puck at Boston's blue line and streak in on a break away, drawing a penalty shot. Heck, even his penalty shot deke was high quality, he just can't catch a break right now.
• The Jets lost both Tanner Glass (high stick, stitches) and Zach Bogosian (lower-body) in tonight's game, which is status quo for the Jets. As soon as someone clears IR, it's just natural that someone else be put back on it.
• It really hurt not having Bogosian on the ice for the third period, as he had already registered two assists and 12:16 TOI over the first two periods.
• Antti Miettinen, Kyle Wellwood and Eric Fehr really impressed as a line tonight. The trio was buzzing throughout the game and Jets fans should remain optimistic that this line A) stays together and B) continues to play at the level it did tonight.
• Ondrej Pavelec currently ranks 5th in the NHL in the shots against category. Another 42 tonight should see his numbers continue to balloon.
• In the past twenty games where Nathan Horton has scored, Boston is 20-0-0. He had to score twice tonight to counter the Eric Fehr effect (Fehr scored his first as a Jet tonight).
• As noted previously by Arctic Ice Hockey, Boston's goal differential is scary good. With tonight's win they are +70 and they haven't even played 40 games yet. That's sick.
• What's really impressive about the Bruins is that they are scoring by committee. Tyler Seguin - the teams leading scorer - ranks only 25th in overall NHL scoring. They currently bolster a roster with nine (!) players who have scored more than twenty points. No other NHL team even comes close to matching that depth.
• Despite the lack of a third period from Winnipeg, this was really a back and forth affair. Winnipeg squandered three separate one goal leads.