The Winnipeg Jets beat the Vancouver Canucks in overtime last night in a game they should not have won. They played a horrible first period and while they were able to turn it around for the second and third, getting away with not playing a complete game once again. The Jets do not know who they want to be and it comes out in their games. They often don’t show up until later in the game and against some teams in the North Division it is fine, but against others it is deadly.
The Jets have remained this team for a couple years now. Ever since their dominating performance in which they reached the Western Conference Finals four years ago it has been an issue. This is something that they need to fix in order to be a dominant team again, but they are more transfixed by players that are one dimensional and bad instead of one dimensional with an intriguing skill-set. Nate Thompson playing for the penalty kill will never be a good choice.
That is the more frustrating part about this team. Before they even step onto the ice, they place themselves at a deficit by refusing to dress the best team they can. They do it on defence and they do it on offence. Their uneven play is unsurprising because they don’t dress a team created to play a great game. The fact that Kevin Cheveldayoff specifically said that there were in-house solutions for the defence and both those solutions are in the AHL is telling. Paul Maurice must think he is icing the best team and is hurting his team in the process. That is for something beyond the recap.
Two other notes: Pierre-Luc Dubois looked fantastic coming back from injury and scoring two goals and Tyler Myers looked so familiar at times.
