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Recap: The Jets Penalty Kill Goes Missing, Wild win 4-3

The Jets faced off against the Wild in Minnesota tonight and though certain players did amazing things, they ultimately lost 4-3. The first period opened up with both teams utilizing their speed and keeping the puck in motion.

Nic Petan opened the scoring for the evening with a beautiful shot that snuck past Backstrom, Matt Cooke opened up the penalties for the night with a nice roughing call and all was status quo. Then Winnipeg started taking penalties of their own and the game got a little tougher for them as Mikael Granlund got one past Pavelec on the power play. The Wild’s second goal of the evening came after Erik Haula received a penalty shot for being run into the net by Nikolaj Ehlers whose speedy feet got the best of him. Pavelec was unable to make that save (largely because he apparently forgot that half the net existed and planted himself firmly by his left goal post) and the Wild finished the first period off in the lead.

In the second, the Jets picked things up a little bit with a nice goal by Halischuk, but the Wild answered back on another power play with their third goal of the night. Towards the end of the second the Jets looked a little like they were out of sorts and were scrambling a bit to get the puck to the net but the third period opened with a little more confidence and a goal from Grant Clitsome. Unfortunately, another power play for the Wild meant another goal for the Wild and they finished the game with the win. Giving credit where it's due however, the last few minutes of the game were exciting and fast paced and the Jets didn't appear to give up until the very end. Well, at least poor Nic Petan didn't.

Ten Things

1) Nikolaj Ehlers was incredibly impressive tonight minus his speed getting the better of him at one point. His creativity, quick feet and skill made me feel a bit hopeful for the future of this team. I typically don't advocate players getting started in the NHL at such a young age, but he may be a piece the Jets need in their line up once regular season starts.

2) Another incredibly talented young player that got to show off his skills tonight was Nic Petan. He opened the scoring for the evening with a beauty of a shot and his game kept getting better. Combine his play tonight with the fact that he had a huge hit on a member of the Wild and you may have another missing piece of the Jets puzzle.

3) Jim Slater. What's up, bud? Having a rough go out there, huh? Well, don't worry, you'll still likely be in the lineup once the season starts regardless of what you prove about your lack of urgency during these preseason games. Chin up, sunshine.

4) The Jets lack of penalty kill tonight was ultimately their undoing with all but one goal from Minnesota coming on the power play (and if you will recall that one goal was a penalty shot). The only word that can describe what it looked like is ugly. At one point at the end of the third, all four Jets penalty kill players (Wheeler, Bogosian, Enstrom and Scheifele) were on the opposite side of the ice literally covering the same player allowing Keranen to get the puck to Spurgeon who had a clear shot through Pavelec and into the back of the net. Just not good enough at all.

5) My kingdom for a goalie! I have been analyzing my thoughts about Pavelec's game tonight and am wondering if it seems horrible because it's Pavelec and I have no faith in him or if it was really a bad game for him. All I know is that a few of those goals seemed a little too soft for my liking.

6) Another one of the young guys that looked stellar was Lowry. Though he wasn't necessarily as flashy as Petan and Ehlers he's a good solid player and proved that again tonight. JC Lipon was also pretty solid tonight, though he didn't stand out as much which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Ditto Chiarot.

7) I'm not sure what Bogosian's doing out there most of the time. I'm not confident he even knows what's going on. It seems like he just goes out there and does stuff and hopes it works. I do know though that if you want the puck you can merely brush past him and he'll hand it right over to you.

8) In the Wild's side of the ice, Matt Dumba was stellar tonight. He had his ups and downs last season with the Wild, but he's slowly proving himself to be a talented young player who will benefit the team for years to come. He was incredibly solid tonight garnering 3 shots, 1 assist and the second star of the evening.

9) The lack of play by play announcers was strange tonight and it really threw me for a bit of a loop. Wait… you say there were play by play announcers? They were talking the whole game? Well, TSN, how am I supposed to hear them with the arena sounds being blasted through my TV speakers at full volume? Get your poop in a group or give us a different broadcaster please.

10) Shea-Fefe forever.

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