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Recap: Better, but no cigar

Please understand that I am fully on board with seeing Connor McDavid get to 100 points so in that sense this game was successful. He had three assists because he is Connor McDavid.

The Winnipeg Jets actually played a better game tonight than they did on Monday night. The issue is they did not press the Edmonton Oilers when Connor McDavid was not on the ice because the Oilers are not actually a good team without McDavid, but the Jets fail to take advantage of that little issue the Oilers have. It should be the Oilers downfall, but it takes a team playing with intelligence to take advantage of it.

Blake Wheeler did have a better game including a goal that looked like the Wheeler of old. It is nice to get that level of play back from him even if it was in a fleeting moment. I think Wheeler has been frustrated this year as he can no longer do things that he used to do with ease and that shows in his play. It’s nice to see him be able to return to form at least for a short bit.

The Winnipeg Jets are now in the middle of a five game slide. They are without Nikolaj Ehlers. They look like they do not know what to do anymore and that is a shame. It really does come down to coaching and putting players in positions to succeed. Paul Maurice has not even iced the best lineup available to him this year which says a lot about the lineup decisions he is making then anything. The players need someone to make decisions to help them succeed on the ice. I think the lineup issue where the only way something changes is if there is an injury is a bigger problem than other more mundane issues like player performance.

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