The Winnipeg Jets defeated the Chicago Blackhawks in overtime to continue their win streak. Aside from my roughly 50 mistakes in the preview, the game was moderately good and entertaining. Connor Hellebuyck played another good game. The Jets looked okay.
Power play lacked Finnish
The Jets first power play featured them giving up a short-handed goal and generally looking out of sync. I blame Ville Heinola being scratched for all these things happening. If he had been playing, he would have been out there on the first unit playing the point instead of Patrik Laine. It may not seem like a big thing, but Laine had clearly not practiced on the point much and seemed to struggle with the added responsibility.
Puck Watching for Days
The Jets also fell into a trap of watching the puck a lot on the second goal. Instead of trying to improve their fortunes, they seemed like a much more passive team early in the game and that hurt them. Chicago was beating them to loose pucks and was generally the better team until they weren’t. The Jets were able to turn their play around and even up the game before it got out of hand.
The Second Line Emerges
The second line showed up last night much to the delight of me. Kyle Connor does not look like he has missed a beat after missing training camp. Andrew Copp is doing a fine job as the second line centre and it might be a move the Jets should continue with even after Bryan Little returns because Copp is working well there and Adam Lowry could really use a friend or two on his line.
