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Recap: Winnipeg Jets left singing the Blues in 3-1 loss to St. Louis

Recap:

Well, that was a crazy finish.

A line-brawl broke out at the end of the game between the Winnipeg Jets and the St. Louis Blues, as Dustin Byfuglien blew a gasket and tried to fight both Barrett Jackman and Roman Polak on his own before the rest of the players joined in. By then, the Blues had already been awarded an empty-netter to reel off the 3-1 victory to reclaim the #ConferenceIII Belt again.

The Blues were certainly the better team on the evening, as the eye-test and the #fancystats suggested that they won the possession battle handily. Still, the Jets managed to hang around and had a chance to steal a point late in the game. Sadly, this result will cripple the Jets and their chances for playoff hockey this April. Good thing there will be plenty of green booze flowing tonight. That'll help.

Ten Thoughts:
  • St. Louis is pretty good at the game of hockey. Stanley Cup contenders? You betcha. They’d beat a lot of teams in a 7-game series.
  • Al Montoya had a very good game in my opinion, holding a potent offence to just the two goals while he was in the crease. #wallmontoya stopped 23 of 25 for a 0.920 sv%, which is a-okay to me. While he may have slightly over-pursued Derek Roy at the side of the net on the first goal, it would have helped if Devin Setoguchi, Keaton Ellerby and Adam Pardy didn’t play keystone cops for the 10 seconds leading up to it.
  • Puck-luck doomed the Jets tonight, as the winner by Backes was a broken play and a deflection that ended up right on his stick in the slot. The PDO-train is heading south again.
  • I realize that it was the second-half of a back-to-back involving travel, but shouldn’t the Jets have been able to muster up a bit more jump in their latest MUST-WIN game? Seven shots in the first, five shots in the second and five in the third for a total of 17? That’s not going to cut it, especially against St. Louis.
  • Eric O’Dell scored a huge goal in a 4-on-4 situation alongside Evander Kane. It’s almost like putting him in a position to succeed instead of playing him two-minutes a game next to Chris Thorburn and Anthony Peluso was a good idea. Anybody know of anyone who was lobbying for this for the past, oh, I’d say… few months? 😀
  • Speaking of Kane, he’s going to take a lot of heat for being in the penalty box for the game-winner on that slashing call, but 30 seconds earlier Adam Pardy mauled a guy to save a goal that easily could have been a penalty too. The PK had been excellent of late. They couldn’t kill it there. C’est la vie.
  • Only Matt Halischuk and Patrice Cormier played less than 7 minutes. Nice to see the 4th line even get some ice in the third period of a tie game, too.
  • Having said that, not one player on the Blues played less than 10 minutes. That’s the sure sign of depth. Unreal.
  • Devin Setoguchi can pack his bags and get ready to head to another NHL city this July. He’s just brutal and I don’t want him back, even for league minimum. I’ve officially written him off as a sunk cost. Nice trade, Chevy.
  • With the Coyotes up 2-0 over the Kings early in the first period as of this being posted, the mountain to climb has almost officially become impossible. The Jets have had their playoff chances drop back down to 1.4% following the loss, and will drop another 0.3% if the Coyotes prevail. A 12-0 finish to the season ought to do it. Anything less? Doubtful.
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