Stastny Terrific in Debut

Sure, the blowing of a two goal lead in the third period is going to sting a little bit, and allowing six goals isn’t saying “wow” to anybody, but the Jets have a reason to smile after last night’s 6-5 loss to the Nashville Predators.

His name is Paul Stastny.

Acquired from the St. Louis Blue for a 2018 1st round pick, prospect Erik Foley and a conditional 2020 4th round pick, Stastny was terrific in all elements of his game on Tuesday night. The 32-year-old centre had a goal and an assist in his first game as a Jet, and heard the appreciation from the home faithful. Jets General Manager Kevin Cheveldayoff had to be pleased with the immediate return on investment, as the offensive production was also matched by dominance at the faceoff dot, going 14 of 19, and a Corsi For % during even strength of 66.7%, as the team managed double the shot attempts of Nashville when Stastny was on the ice. Stastny also had a couple of blocks, and was on the ice for 1:35 of power play time, including setting up Mark Scheifele’s one-timer goal in the second period.

Stastny’s new linemates also benefited from the new arrival, as both Patrik Laine and Nikolaj Ehlers had two-point games, with Laine picking up a pair of helpers, while Ehlers scored and added an assist.

Now, I don’t expect the advanced stats or goals and assists to maintain their current pace. The one game sample size is far too kind to give much salt. But the instant chemistry between Ehlers, Stastny and Laine is definitely a positive thing.

The faceoff prowess is also a positive thing to not for a team that has done quite well in that category this year. Centres Scheifele, Stastny, Bryan Little and Adam Lowry have combined to win 2,074 out of 3,796 faceoffs this year, for a combined 54.6% win rate. The Jets as a team have the 5th best face-off efficiency rate in the NHL with 52.4%, a skill that can only benefit the club moving forward.

So what say you, how do you think Paul Stastny did in his Jets debut?