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Recap: Jets fail to fly in Pittsburgh

Pre-Game:

I have a pot of tea ready to go and have sadly set my book aside for a hopefully exciting game between the high-flying Pittsburgh Penguins and the talented Winnipeg Jets.

First Period:

Both teams start off strong, but the Jets get in some trouble early when Nikolaj Ehlers takes a hit somewhere (I saw it to his lower body, but others are saying shoulder to his head), and proceeds to go to the room. This leads to the Jets using Andrew Copp on the first line. Considering how the Jets look right now, this might help them defensively.

Things go from bad to worse when the Jets get flagged for too many men on the ice and Olli Maatta scores on the ensuing power play. The Penguins followed up that goal with another one that was more of a ping pong goal than anything. Part of what led to that goal was a massive missed hit from Dmitry Kulikov. It is okay to go for the hit, but you have to connect or else that happens. After that, the Jets settled down, but the damage was done and they ended the first period down 2-0.

Second Period:

The second period started off slower than the first and then the Jets got a powerplay where Kyle Connor hit the post and the Maatta did the same at the other end. It is pretty obvious that the Jets are really missing Dustin Byfuglien. They can run a powerplay without him, but they desperately need him on the second pairing to stabilize it and make it a legitimate NHL pair. Without him, they are a third pairing playing too many minutes.

The most exciting moment of the third period was when it appeared that Connor Hellebuyck made a big glove save only for it to go to video review and be called a goal because the puck crossed the line while in his glove.

Third Period:

I started watching this and then fazed out. Moving Jack Roslovic up into Ehlers spot was ultimately the correct move even if it amounted to nothing.

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