The Jets managed to survive a complete onslaught from a motivated Detroit team on Tuesday night, mostly due to the performance by Ondrej Pavelec. They were able to convert on their chances and leaned quite heavily on their goaltender in the third period, managing to overcome more special teams issues and being relentlessly out played for the first time in quite a while.

I’m going to start today with the special teams. We all know how problematic the power play has been this year. Although it wasn’t great against the Wings, that unit was able to generate five chances on the night. It is concerning though that they gave up two chances against as well. The last thing this team needs is to really start worrying about giving up goals when they have the man advantage. Of large concern right now though is how leaky the penalty kill has been. Allowing two goals and six chances on four opportunities is far from the standard they have set with their play earlier this year. This team simply cannot afford to see its PK struggle with how bad the power play has been.

As a whole, the Jets were extremely fortunate to get out of this game alive. They were ultimately dominated, especially in the third period, and Pavelec really held them in the game. Again, if this is how Pavelec can play when he is worried about his job and working on a reduced workload, then we need to see more of Montoya. Not less.

From a hockey fan’s perspective, watching Pavel Datsyuk, Daniel Alfredsson and Henrik Zetterberg do their thing was something to behold. Despite the fact that both of their goals came on the power play, they were constantly buzzing and were a threat to score every time they were on the ice.

After reportedly getting praise from Coach Noel following their Sunday performance, the fourth line often found themselves in trouble Tuesday. James Wright had his worst game as a center, and I would expect Anthony Peluso to get the nod ahead of Chris Thorburn on Friday.

Although most of the team struggled, the Jets second line did manage to end the night on the positive side of the even strength ledger. It’s nice to see that despite the lack of goals from Evander Kane, that line hasn’t deemed itself completely useless, as it did last year.

I continue to be impressed by the pairing of Ellerby and Pardy. These are a couple of big guys who can actually skate well and move the puck effectively. I’m not sure if I have said this publicly yet, but props to Chevy for both of these pick ups. They have turned out to be smart moves thus far.

Toby Enstrom had a rare rough night. He was on the ice for a fair number of chances against, and was physically abused a little too much for my liking. It would have been nice to see a teammate stick up for him, but it’s not something that bothered me too much.

It’s vital that the Jets do not overlook the Flyers on Friday night. It’s a game they should win, and at this point in time it’s a game they need to win. The Jets are notorious for losing games like these, but if they want to be a playoff team it’s one they need to win.