The Winnipeg Jets are currently riding the struggle bus. While one might look at the record of the last few games and wonder where the concern is, the reality is that the Jets aren’t keeping up with some quality playoff teams. Most of Winnipeg’s wins over the last month or so have been teams they’re expected to beat. An uneven but spirited performance against Washington provided some modicum of hope for last night’s match-up against the Nashville Predators, but the Jets had other plans. Winnipeg stumbled out of the gates and never really managed to recover in time to make up for a multitude of mistakes. Here are some takeaways from a frustrating whalloping in Smashville.
Seven Takeaways
- Winnipeg really does need to overhaul the coaching staff. The current outfit under Lowry will probably be enough to get the Jets into a Wild Card spot, but anything beyond that is highly questionable.
- The Jets were outworked and outplayed at even-strength until the 3rd period. By then, Nashville held a 4-1 lead and were content to take some shifts off while letting Juuse Saros handle the rest.
- Winnipeg was offered a ton of power plays in the 2nd period and managed to score on just 1. The Perfetti unit barely saw any ice-time during these chances, leaving PP1 the sole special teams unit with the extra man. This plan did not work at all.
- The PK actually looked pretty serviceable, all things considered. The Jets skaters pressured Nashville’s puckcarriers and even generated a few shorthanded chances of note.
- Evgeny Svechnikov played less than 4 total minutes. That cannot happen. If he was too injured to play more than that, why not dress Reichel instead? If he was healthy, what was the point of putting him in if he was going to be treated like a press box player?
- Hellebuyck had a real stinker of an outing. He’s had more than a few of these this season, which is to be expected. The Jets can’t rely on him playing at a Vezina level forever. That said, it’s still painful to see some of the poor positioning and tracking.
- Adam Lowry is getting used in far too many critical situations. He was out there on the 6v5 opportunity while Perfetti rode pine. Cole was one of the most dangerous Jets players and….sat in favor of Dave’s son. The jokes really do write themselves.
