The Winnipeg Jets continued their remarkable stretch of hockey in the Nation’s Capital tonight, squeaking by the Ottawa Senators 2-1 in the shootout to extend their points streak to 8 games (6-0-2). It was a happier ending to the shootout then the one the other night against the Penguins, but it certainly helps when Ondrej Pavelec doesn’t allow a single goal in the “skills competition”.
Chris Neil and Toby Enstrom exchanged power-play goals in the first period, and that was it in regulation time as Pavelec and Craig Anderson both put in solid work on the evening. And it wasn’t until the fifth-round of the shootout before a single goal was scored, as Mathieu Perreault lobbed a change-up inside the post for the winner.
The Jets played a strong road game, which generally means boring, but the results are the results and a win is a win. The Jets keep rolling and are getting close to proving lots of people wrong, including myself. Is it sustainable, or is regression still lurking around the corner? Stay tuned!
Ten Thoughts:
- Sometimes you’ve got to be lucky to be good, and the Jets got lucky to catch the Sens without Bobby Ryan, Alex Chiasson and Chris Phillips in the lineup. The game still counted in the standings, though.
- The Jets failed to score at 5v5 for the 3rd-time in five games, but have points in eight straight. If Ondrej Pavelec keeps this play up AND the power-play kicks in the odd goal, apparently they’ll be just fine.
- Chris Thorburn got pummelled in the fight he engaged in, which also cancelled out a 2-on-1 for Andrew Ladd and Bryan Little. It’s getting ridiculous that he’s still in the line-up, especially with Anthony Peluso healthy. The dude continues to be a liability.
- Mark Stuart gambled with his patented “stand-up-and-hit-a-guy” move and lost on the penalty-kill, as it led directly to the open ice that Neil needed to deposit that goal. Stu does this all the time. And I really dislike it.
- Toby Enstrom’s rocket from the point on the PP was a welcome sight, as people have been complaining about him not shooting enough. But what made it even more beautiful was spelled out beautifully by Randy Turner with this tweet:
- Mark Scheifele was crunched a few more times tonight, prompting plenty of #scheifeledown tweets on the evening. I’m beginning to wonder if 55 is hurt, because he doesn’t look right. Perhaps it’s time to shelter him a bit and move Perreault up…
- Which dam breaks first? The Jets near inability to score goals at 5v5, or their near-impenetrable goaltending streak? Regression is likely to occur to one of them, if not both, but it’ll be interesting to watch play out.
- I’m still worried about the lack of ice-time that the 4th-line is getting so early in the season. The NHL season is a marathon, not a sprint, and yet again the “energy-line” played less than 8 minutes, with Thor less than five. You have to figure that the best players will begin to tire out eventually, regardless of the improvement in conditioning.
- Positive results deserve positive thoughts though, and the wins keep on coming. The team appears to be getting more and more comfortable playing and winning this way, and the best players on the Jets are generally the best players in each games. That’s good.
- And speaking of good, Ondrej Pavelec has been nothing short of incredible for the Jets lately. It kind of makes you wonder why it took so many years of substandard play before he “dedicated” himself to improving. But if he can keep this up, I’ll happily eat my words. Still not 100% convinced, but I’m getting there…
That was kind of amazing that Enstrom was gliding backwards, wasn’t even looking at puck, and put it in off the post. #NHLJets
— randy turner (@randyturner15) November 9, 2014
