The Winnipeg Jets returned to the road in their first game without former Washington Capitals forward Mathieu Perreault. They looked horrible in his absence and they dropped the game 5-1. Yuck.
Some Number of Thoughts, Maybe Ten:
That game was not fun to watch. I don't often find myself falling asleep during games that start at six, but I was nearing that today. After the game got out of hand and my sadz took over it became a depressing watch.
Why was it so frustrating? Penalties played a big big big big part.
Toby Enstrom brought the Jets to within a goal at the 11:17 mark of the second period.
Then this happened:
| 11:32 | WPG | Blake Wheeler Tripping – 2 min against Nicklas Backstrom |
| 13:07 | WPG | Tyler Myers Tripping – 2 min against Troy Brouwer |
| 14:33 | WPG | Adam Pardy Tripping – 2 min against Alex Ovechkin |
| 15:47 | WPG | Chris Thorburn Too many men/ice – bench – 2 min |
Like WTF?
Washington scored twice on that horrible run of penalties and the game felt like it was all but over.
An incredible fact related to those PIMs is the Too Many Men penalty happened here:
They took a Too Many Men penalty on this play, too! RT @Andy_B_Jets: @arcticicehockey ROFL pic.twitter.com/LAti1NvqkL
— Ryan Blight (@arby_18) February 20, 2015
On the bright side, the Jets won the 5 on 5 Corsi battle. This usually means more. Teams don't always piss game down their leg in the penalty box like the Jets did today.
Further to the bright side, most of the team was in the plus at 5 on 5. In the minus were Mark Stuart and the entire bottom six. This is where the loss of Mathieu Perreault hurts the most.
Perreault’s absence means Frolik moves up. This leaves young, Adam Lowry on the third line with Chris Thorburn and TJ Galiardi. That is a bad fourth line. The Jets actual fourth line of Adam Pardy, Jim Slater and Anthony Peluso is actually worse. Forward depth is an issue.
Back to the happy! Tyler Myers looked solid again. He and Tobias Enstrom were the Jets most effective pair, by the numbers. Myers was responsible for 5 of the Jets 20 shots on goal. He also picked up an assist on Toby Enstrom’s goal.
Myers has recorded one goal and three assists for four points in his four games as a Jet after posting 13 points in 47 games with the Sabres. Hopefully he keeps piling up the points.
Myers was solid, but Jacob Trouba would surely like to forget this game. He was bad early and often. Hopefully he rebounds for Saturday.
What the heck happened to the penalty kill? After starting the season as a strength of this team the PK is in shambles. No team will win consistently when they spot the opposition a two goal lead – this is the scenario the Jets find themselves in all too often. It has to stop!
I have no idea how many thoughts that is.
