This was not a game the Jets could afford to lose. The road trip was going well despite some questionable play, but a loss in Sunrise Florida would pretty much dismiss any positive vibes that had been generated on this trip. It’s Florida. They aren’t good. The Jets were expected to win, which of course means they lost. Welcome to the life of a Winnipeg Jets fan.

After a rather unimpressive start (as per usual), the Jets were able to turn things around in the second. They controlled a lot of the play, generated a fair number of chances, but just weren’t able to get one past Tim Thomas. Thomas played well, but I don’t think he was nearly as spectacular as perceived. The Jets had their opportunities off of rebounds and mishandled pucks, but just couldn’t bury them.

Speaking of not being able to bury chances, Chris Thorburn actually didn’t look completely useless out there. Well, at least not the whole game. He did ring one glorious opportunity off of the post at least? Okay, okay he didn’t get torn apart. The Jets second line resorted completely to a dump and chase style with Thorburn on the ice, which somehow resulted in him being a +3 guy on the night. It wasn’t horrible, but they were playing the Florida Panthers.

Once Jokinen and Setoguchi started playing the occasional shift with Blake Wheeler, we saw the two of them generating a lot more. They did stick with that dump and chase style a bit, but when you have so many big bodies that also have skill, it will work the odd time. I’ve liked Jokinen’s game of late. If only he and Evander could get it going together.

Outside of the opening goal, the LLW line was pretty silent all night. They didn’t really get picked apart, but they weren’t creating much either. Your best players need to show up and dominate weaker opponents on nights like these, and they weren’t able to do that.

I think we saw how important Frolik is to that third line against Florida. Scheifele and Halischuk were basically pylons out there for most of the night, and really didn’t provide much offensively at all. I thought Tangradi played with an edge and worked to get the puck deep into Florida’s end a lot, but his line mates really weren’t helping much. I still think Scheifele should be in the AHL.

Thanks for showing up Anthony Peluso and John Albert. Tell me, what are the benches and beaches like in Florida?

The loss to the Panthers has to serve as an abrupt wake up call to the players about who they really are, and they cannot afford to take any team for granted. Despite a winning record, the road trip was a bit humbling, and it will be interesting to see them return to the Western Conference. Will they come back with more effort and focus? Or will they continue their bad habits?