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Recap: Winnipeg Jets snowed over by Colorado Avalanche in shootout, lose 4-3

Recap:

The Winnipeg Jets sandwiched a turd of a 2nd period between two pretty good periods to begin and end the game, but the end result was a 4-3 shootout loss to the Colorado Avalanche. The Jets continue to stink it up against their #ConferenceIII rivals, as they are now 3-10-3 against the Central and have now sunk to the bottom of the division after the Predators‘ victory over the Stars. Now sitting at 14-14-5, the Jets have only nine regulation wins in 33 attempts which is tied for last in the West with the Oilers and Flames. Yuck.

Blake Wheeler banked one in off a skate early and Michael Frolik tipped home a Jacob Trouba point shot on the powerplay to give the home squad an early two goal lead, but Matt Duchene went end-to-end to get the Avs within one before the end of twenty. And all of that good work was given away as Ryan O’Reilly and Duchene each tallied in the second to give the visitors a lead.

Wheeler scored his second of the night on the powerplay at the exact midpoint of the 3rd period, and that was it for scoring in regulation and overtime. Unfortunately for Ondrej Pavelec, he didn’t make a save in the shootout as both Duchene and P.A. Parenteau torched him while Devin Setoguchi and Andrew Ladd were stuffed by Semyon Varlamov. Another game, another loss, another number to keep us at “fake” 0.500.

Ten Thoughts:
  • Wheeler scored a pair of goals which was good as it certainly helped make up for his gaffe that lead to the Avs 3rd goal. I’m torn on Wheeler. I am not a fan of his disappearing acts that occur way too often, but he has been better of late. But whenever I think of him going to Sochi for Team USA, I laugh. He’s big and fast, but I still think he’s way too soft.
  • Jacob Trouba and Mark Scheifele both added primary assists on the power-play tonight. That is very good, as coach Noel appears to finally be putting #55 in a position to succeed. And Trouba? He’s a beast.
  • Grant Clitsome added a pair of secondary PP assists, but I can’t help but think that he’s just riding on the coattails of young Mr. Trouba. Cllitsome remains horrendous in his own end.
  • Ondrej Pavelec was pretty meh tonight. Not going to put it on him at all, but I thought his rebound control was lacking all night. He had one of those nights where I was just “uneasy” watching him. He did not have a very good shootout. #hottake
  • Matt Duchene is incredible. If he’s not on Team Canada in Sochi I’ll actually keep my Ondrej Pavelec bobble-head doll in one piece.
  • Chris Thorburn is so hilariously out of place on the second line that it’s bordering on lunacy. And the way that the talking heads pump his tires relentlessly while saying how much better of linemate he is than Evander Kane, I have to imagine that the wheels are in motion to get #thenatural out of town. This whole situation continues to make arby sad.
  • John Albert did not score again tonight. This slump of his just won’t seem to end.Â
  • If you watched the TSN Jets broadcast, you were treated to a wonderful intermission interview with Craig Heisinger where Zinger praised Eric O’Dell for being excellent down in St. John’s but felt that Albert was the right call-up to fill the role required with Kane going down. Chevy and his partner-in-crime both continue to show how inept they are as managers in the big leagues.
  • Semyon Varlamov didn’t impress me a whole lot tonight, as I thought he was pretty loose with his rebounds and kind of out of control a bunch, but the stats line shows that he makes lots of saves. In the end, I guess that’s all that matters.
  • The Jets are now 0-1-1 on this current 3-game Central Division home-stand, and have fallen to 7-7-4 at home. The MTS Centre fans deserve better than to only have seen seven wins through 18 home games. Maybe they can get one on Saturday. Then again…
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