The Winnipeg Jets tried their best to out-trap the masters, but the New Jersey Devils and their collection of elders wouldn’t stand for it. Blake Wheeler took a wonderful pass from Toby Enstrom and scored early in the first, but the Jets tried to sit on the lead for the remainder of the game and it was to no avail. Michael Ryder turnstiled Mark Stuart after an Andrew Ladd giveaway and beat Ondrej Pavelec late in the 3rd to send the game to extra time. And when overtime solved nothing…
With the Devils having lost 18 straight shootouts since their last win (coincidently over the Jets), you just knew that this wasn’t going to end well. And after Jacob Josefson scored a beauty on Jersey’s 2nd attempt and Cory Schneider stopped all of LLW, the Devils escaped with two points and the Jets will likely feel like they let one slip through their fingers.
Ten Thoughts
- This was the second straight game that I’ve watched the Jets game… on mute. It’s much more enjoyable. And the Jets have earned 3 of 4 points with my ears being Beyak-free. Nice.
- Seriously, that pass by Toby on Blake Wheeler’s opening goal, doe… The Prince of Defense continues to rock. That was a beauty of a goal, as Wheeler and his long reach managed to tuck it around Schneider’s outstretched pad.
- Evander Kane was pretty noticeable in his return from the IR, playing over 17 minutes and looking fast and dangerous.
- Pretty ironic to watch the Jets impose an almost successful Trap against the pioneers of the damn thing in Jersey. But wow, does it make for awful hockey. No wonder nobody shows up to watch Jersey play live. This game was not pretty.
- It’s amazing how much more comfortable the Jets look playing teams in the East. Their systems look strangely compatible with matching up with their old foes, which could possibly explain their struggles in the West.
- Pavelec and the Jets have certainly benefited from an upwards regression of PDO, as they’ve gotten plenty of bounces go their way lately. But as has been noted by many on Twitter tonight, Pav is making the saves but looking shaky with his rebounds in doing so. But in a results-based business, he’s getting them for his team lately. They don’t ask how in the standings, just how many.
- Why is it that so many in the media point to the amount of minutes that Pavelec plays like it’s some badge of honour? You’ve got to play a goalie. All it tells me is that the coach doesn’t trust the backup and that the team is (still) too stubborn to rectify the situation.
- Mark Scheifele is not producing so far this season, but it’s not for a lack of looks. Another wrister off the post tonight gives him roughly a half-dozen on the year. He’s due, but man is he also getting knocked around out there.
- And no, I don’t think that the guys like Ryane Clowe, who took a run at and levelled #55 tonight, are that worried that Chris Thorburn (and his 6:15) were in the lineup tonight as a “deterrent”.
- Again, did anybody even notice Dustin Byfuglien out there? He’s literally wasting away as a forward. I’ll leave this tweet up to finish off my final thought, as I couldn’t have said it better myself:
#NHLJets #BigBuff wallows in frustration as forward cause he’s not a very good one. #defence please. Or trade with who gives up his D value.
— Scott Campbell (@NHL_Campbell) October 31, 2014
