After two periods of fun, the Winnipeg Jets pooped their pants.
Ten Thoughts:
1. Early in the first Brendan Lemieux and J.C. Lipon had a shift where they literally ran around and smashed everyone. It was a lot of fun and reminiscent of Disney’s Bash Brothers.
2. Ehlers really showed off his defensive chops tonight. He stole pucks in all three zones and recovered quickly to make up for his own mistakes. Paul Maurice is well aware of his offensive ability. The defensive play is likely what it will take to solidify his roster spot.
3. Penalty problems apparently persist.
4. J.C. Lipon got credit for the goal, but Chase De Leo deserves a pile of accolades. Chase started things off with a takeaway and set Lipon up with a great dish through traffic to create a goal. Good stuff!
5. Lipon and De Leo weren’t the only kids to make favourable impressions. Andrew Copp also scored himself a goal from the dirt in front of the crease.
6. Copp's goal came after some quality work by Nic Petan. If Petan has the puck in space – and he can create his own space – he will put the puck on net or find the open man. Can't wait to see this kid rocking it in the NHL.
7. Copp and Petan were on the ice for a pair of goals tonight. The line (which included Chris Thorburn) was cycling the puck behind the net on the lead-up to Ben Chiarot’s second of the preseason.
8. Chiarot played on the right hand side for the second consecutive game. Some might find it surprise to see a team that is stacked with right-handers move a lefty to his off side, but coach explained that this is related to the desire to give the Jets four big D men (Toby Enstrom, Dustin Byfuglien, Tyler Myers, Jacob Trouba) more ice. It sounds like the next two are very firmly Mark Stuart and Chiarot.
9. Pavelec was perfect after two, but it definitely ain't after four. Not assigning blame anywhere, but the spotless record is gone.
10. You know who did assign blame? Ondrej Pavelec. Ondrej made a point of throwing his young, teammates under the bus by stating that the kids need to learn to play for 60 minutes. His coach didn't agree with this assessment of blame. Yay! Drama! …and Pav continuing a patern of behavior.
Did anybody else take immense joy in watching Taylor Hall get tossed around tonight?
What did you think of tonight's game?
