The Jets beat the Bruins tonight 2-1 at home and honestly I’m sad to say I’m not surprised. The Bruins have been really struggling lately and the Jets came out flying in the first. The first major thing the Bruins did was get a penalty via a puck over the glass by Torey Krug. The first major thing the Jets did was score a goal courtesy of Captain Controversy himself, Evander Kane. An assist on the goal went to Jay Harrison who got his first point as a Jet in his first shift as a Jet.
The Bruins responded to Evander’s goal with a goal of their own in the second scored by Torey Krug but hey guess what? Jets scored the last goal of the game. It was eventually given to Mathieu Perreault so thanks to the Anaheim Ducks for not re-signing him because he has been an pretty decent asset to the Jets.
Ten Thoughts
1) Okay, let’s talk Jay Harrison for a minute because I know that’s who I was watching this evening most. He got his first point as a Jet tonight with an assist on Evander Kane’s goal. In addition, he looked pretty darn good out there. Making solid moves and generally playing well. He just looked quite confident given that he stepped off a plane and was thrown into the game having been given no time to learn the Jets system and meet his new team mates. I can’t help but like him so far. Limited sample size, I know, I know.
2) There was a moment there when I thought Dustin Byfuglien was injured and I may or may not have screamed “NOOOOOO!” out loud prompting that man I married to come running upstairs asking if I was okay and if I stepped on one of our cats. Byfuglien is okay though. He is perfect. He is beautiful on defense. Let’s keep him there. I’ll launch a kickstarter if I have to.
3) Injuries? What injuries? Apparently someone forgot to give the team the memo that they have a lot of injured players and are therefore not expected to win much. I even cast the defense as a dumpster fire in the game day thread. Though there were some minor problems, the team held it together well.
4) Remember when the Bruins were a scary team and you could just assume that whatever team they were facing was going to automatically lose? I do. Part of me weeps. Part of me cheers. This was a very odd game for me. I was in a glass case of emotion for 60 full minutes.
5)
6) So many hits. SO. MANY. I always expect the Bruins to be a physical team and I know the Jets can absolutely oblige in that aspect, but I was surprised to see so many players getting knocked down tonight. Mark Scheifele took a late hit from Milan Lucic that sent him literally flying through the air in some sort of ninja spin move. I’m glad he’s alright.
7) Evander Kane scored the first goal of the night and played a really good game. He's trying so hard to get closer to his 50 goal target. Will he get even close? Not likely, but it's awesome to see him playing his heart out out there. Must be the push ups….
8) Patrice Bergeron is, and always will be, perfect. He just is. Deal with it. In the dying seconds of the game, he nearly had a shot at an open net and I thought for sure he was going to get the tying goal.
9) This (as reported by Tim Campbell and Paul Wiecek of the Winnipeg Free Press) is adorable:
Clitsome was asked Friday what it will be like to play tonight with a man he's never even met before: "'Hi, my name is Grant. We'll be playing together tonight,'" laughed Clitsome.
10) I leave you with these tweets, the first being from the game tonight and the second being one of my favorite things ever:
Behind the #BostonBruins bench in #Winnipeg http://t.co/fr9UxOkMpk pic.twitter.com/72rE11SZE1
— Rod Olinyk (@rolinyk) December 20, 2014
Oh man I just remembered that this is a thing. pic.twitter.com/eG2zO6Kpao
— Jay Richardson (@Jay_Richardson) December 20, 2014
