TALKING POINTS

• Another strong start for Laurent Brossoit today and suddenly signing him in the summer seems like it may be the shrewdest of moves by Kevin Chveldayoff. There were a couple of goals you could argue he may have wanted another chance to stop, but give credit to Clayton Keller for two absolute snipes in the third period. For his part, Antti Raanta was stellar in the Coyotes net and was the only reason Arizona still had a chance to win in the third period.

• Tyler Myers and Joe Morrow continue to struggle together. I honestly believe these two are decent enough defensemen on their own, but they just don’t mesh well together and give up too many big chances when they are paired. According to NatrualStatTrick, the pair gave up seven high danger scoring chances which is miles ahead of the other two regular pairs (Trouba/Morrissey gave up three, Byfuglien/Chiarot gave up one). They simply aren’t working as a proper defensive pairing.

• Dustin Byfuglien to the second power play unit while Josh Morrissey staying on the first group seems like such a no-brainer of a move that it does kind of make us wonder why it hadn’t been done earlier. Granted Morrissey seems to be showing more flair for offense this season, but he also was outstanding with Prince Albert in the WHL and running their power play. Buff’s injury that took him out for a couple of games and opened the door may have been a blessing in disguise. As for Buff on the 2nd unit, that group now has that lethal shot from the blueline that they lacked and that the opposition has to respect which opens things up for Ehlers and Little down low.

• More than a handful you on the social media sites have suggested Blake Wheeler may be playing hurt and based on some of his play today, I might agree with you all. He just doesn’t look right. He’s a step slower than we’ve seen him, he struggles winning battles along the boards (not that he was stellar at that before, but now it’s super obvious) … Oh to be a fly inside the Jets trainers room just to know the truth. Hopefully his empty net goal – which was a nice display of stick strength and upper body control – is a sign of good things to come.

• The Jets need to have a “come to Jesus” meeting about the penalties they take and just how they react to them. It’s starting to become a bit of a bad trend, even if it makes for humorous GIFs..

• The Aviators jerseys are now 2 and 0. Hate on that!

THE BOX SCORE

HIGHLIGHTS

First Period

Second Period

Third Period

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