6-3 loss to a divisional opponent. 0-2-0 on this glorious road trip. Andrew Copp played 7:02 minutes. Let's get this over with.
Lehtonen toe save cc @ct460 pic.twitter.com/CG8ZJ2XGCC
— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 13, 2015
fml. Here are my ten eleven thoughts:
1. Happy Birthday Bryan Little!
Might as well start things off on a cheerful note. November 12th just happens to be Bryan Little's birthday, and our very own underappreciated first line centre turned 28 years young. To celebrate, he assisted Blake Wheeler's 1st period goal, played 20:54, and drew a 4:00 minute high sticking double minor which produced diddly squat. I'm tired and grumpy, okay.
2. Family Ties
Somewhere in Nizhny Novgorod, there is a smiling Carl Klingberg. For it was his brother John who got the Dallas Stars on the board eight second into an early 1st period power play. J. Klingberg later assisted Jamie Benn's game-winning goal, was the Stars' best #fancystat defenceman tonight, and proved to be a general pain in the neck for the 21:19 he was on the ice. He's just such a phenomenal offensive driver from the blueline, and that 7 year extension worth $4.25 million per already looks like a steal in my opinion for Dallas.
The Klingberg family honour is redeemed. As Ricardo Montalbán taught us, revenge is a dish best served cold. And this toe drag was cool as a cucumber:
Pretty sweet toe drag by John Klingberg on #NHLJets Andrew Ladd https://t.co/8X1Thqi0mS
— M Remis (@mremis) November 13, 2015
3. Our Lord and Sceviour
You had a feeling it was going to be one of those nights when this goal evened things up at 2 a piece. To give a brief bit of backstory, by this point Blake Wheeler and Jacob Trouba had scored to put Winnipeg ahead 2-1. And then:
Well that was an unfortunate bounce. I shall direct my ire at #8, our very own Jacob Trouba, who loses Sceviour for just long enough to allow the Dallas forward to score. It's a game of moments, and that slight lapse in attention cost the Jets. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention how much fun the last couple minutes of the 1st period were, hemmed in our own zone and all. Yes, fun.
4. A defenceman with a long stick
I want to love Tyler Myers, I really do, but there's almost always something about his game which gives me pause. Tonight was not one of those nights. In addition to scoring Winnipeg's third goal, he also had this remarkable moment:
Myers skate save early in 3rd period for Jets @PhilipAIver pic.twitter.com/lCHfnGOrp6
— Stephanie (@myregularface) November 13, 2015
Don't worry, he'll have a mind-blowingly bad giveaway and/or be incredibly weak on the puck soon enough, I'm sure.
5. "Dat rebound control doe"
Our menace stalker valued Twitter follower @mennoknight427 pointed something out in response to the above GIF, one provided by the lovely and talented @myregularface:
@myregularface @PhilipAIver Dat rebound control doe. Next time he kicked right in front Benn got the gwg @arcticicehockey
— jmt427 (@mennoknight427) November 13, 2015
And so I decided to investigate the game-winning goal a little closer. Let's have a looksie:
In my opinion, Pavelec actually does a decent enough job of deadening the rebound. The real problem is how Jamie Benn (and Patrick Sharp for that matter) were left unmarked, free and clear to do whatever they wanted in front of the net. The defencemen responsible? Mark Stuart and Jacob Trouba.
I realize it's the Dallas Stars on a power play, but there seemed to be a severe lack of communication and awareness on both their parts. Never thought I'd see the day where I was an Ondrej Pavelec apologist, but here we are.
6. The Reverse Burmistrov
And so, Jacob Trouba managed to pull off what I am going to call the Reverse Burmistrov. Burmi, as you may remember, had a horrendous game against Toronto before finding redemption via a mildly awesome goal.
Jacob Trouba on the other hand, scored a goal 04:31 minutes into the 1st period, took a penalty 02:44 minutes later, and then contributed to both the Sceviour and Jamie Benn goals, who are unfortunately players for the Dallas Stars. Ladies and gentlemen, the Reverse Burmistrov.
7. Insanity, a definition
The night got off to such a promising start. I'll admit to being confused when, 13 seconds in, a non-Winnipeg team went to the penalty box. I presume it must be the work of a new rule change. But then Enstrom took a hooking penalty which resulted in the John Klingberg goal, and by the end of the night, the Jets went 0/4 on the power play while the Dallas Stars were 2/4.
Now to be sure, tonight was not especially egregious. I've been hard on Dustin Byfuglien for his penalty antics all season, but even I thought the holding call against him was rather suspect. Having said that, the fact remains that we got out-special teamed. Again. Sigh.
At least Philadelphia also lost tonight, so there's that.
8. Form Voltron
I try to always be on the lookout for a disparity between eye test and fancy stats, but tonight was another night where I'd argue the two interlocked rather well. A 1st period where Winnipeg were the hunted, a 2nd where they were the hunters, and a more even affair in the 3rd seems to be what Natural Stat Trick says happened, and I'd say that agrees with what my eyes saw. This also coincides with NHL.com's boxscore shot tracker:
See, traditional and fancy stats can get along after all.
9. Copp Out
Considering the mediocre returns of late, some line shuffling was in order. And lines were indeed shuffled, giving birth to Thorburn-Lowry-Stafford and Burmistrov-Copp-Petan. Going into tonight's match, I wasn't sure if this provided us two third or fourth lines.
As it turns out, I needn't have fretted over the uncertainty of distinction, as things became clear soon enough. Early returns on the Lowry line were fine. Nothing spectacular, but fine. The Burmi line, on the other hand, had this kind of night according to Natural Stat Trick:
See, this is where quality veteran depth would be useful, because I've been beating the "press box Burmi" drum for a few weeks now. A slight problem for this idea comes in the form of your alternative: Anthony Peluso. Remarkably, my confidence is not inspired. Matt Cullen or Mike Santorelli would have been nicer options to turn to.
10. With great power comes great responsibility
Okay, somebody tell the big guy upstairs that I was kidding about this prediction…mostly.
@PhilipAIver @DOYBree @IanDmytriw YOU you said they’d have 6
— HollyHollywood8 (@HollyHollywood8) November 13, 2015
Long story short, it's not my fault!
11. I can't help falling in love with you
Jealousy over their place atop the Central, when combined with the 6-3 loss and my fawning over John Klingberg, should all lead me to hate the Dallas Stars. But it's hard for me to despise a team whose home arena uses music from the classic album, Star Wars and Other Galactic Funk by Meco.
You win this round, American Airlines Center.
Thanks for reading!
