I think “dominant” is a good term to wrap this game up. The Jets (surprisingly) out-classed the Wings Monday night, with scoring chance numbers so different it even shocked me.

 

Holy crap. To be fair, I want to point a couple things out. I thought Al Montoya played very well, and a couple of his “big” saves came on shot attempts that technically were not scoring chances. His save on Tatar (shown below) is an example of this. Also, I only counted the saves on Datsyuk’s non-goal as one chance, simply due to the fact that after his first crack, the net was technically off.

The Jets did an excellent job at limiting the chances for Detroit’s big line of Datsyuk, Zetterberg and Alfredsson. Detroit has been going through some injury problems and was on the end of a Western Canadian swing last night, so they needed their big boys to play well if they wanted a win. The Jets made sure that didn’t happen.

Special teams were an adventure for the team once again last night. Despite producing 5 power play chances of their own, the Jets gave up three shorthanded opportunities and a goal against. To their credit they did look a lot more dangerous than usual, but until that unit produces goals, there is no “bright side”.

I really liked the pairing of Ellerby and Pardy last night. They both played strong, aggressive games and move pretty well for big guys. Unfortunately we all know that Mark Stuart is going to be given a free pass back to the lineup when he’s healthy. I’d be hesitant to move any of those three up the depth chart, so if they keep it up together I don’t see Redmond getting too much playing time soon. Once Stuart and Trouba come back it’s clear that Redmond will move down, but I’m not sure how things will be handled outside of that.

Between Byfuglien’s skates exploding and Clitsome’s bakery pumping out turnovers, the pair were the only minus players from last night. I understand the importance of playing through rough times, but when Trouba comes back I’d honestly rather see what he and Buff look like together. Either that or go back to Toby and Buff, and keep Bogo with Troubs. Throw in this Ellerby-Pardy combination, rotating Clitsome in when need be and I’d actually be pleased.

Bogosian quite possibly had his best game of the year. He’s looked great with Enstrom (of course) and he appears to have some of his confidence back.

As good as the Scheifele, Frolik and Halischuk line looked (and was) last night, the star to me was Andrew Ladd. I thought he was fantastic all night long and really pushed the team when they needed it.

What can I say about James Wright? It takes a special kind of player to not be on the ice for a single chance when your team has 23 of them.

The Jets will have a chance for redemption Wednesday night when they go to Chicago for the first time this season. I think it’s safe to say expecting the same kind of game is unrealistic, but at least now they know what they are capable of as a team. Claude has a point of reference to point to as an expectation, and they are responsible for trying to replicate it as best they can on a regular basis.