Game 36 at Buffalo: Pavelec Performance Tracker and Neutral Zone Play

10 years ago

Despite the overall result of the game, the Jets actually played a decent game in the neutral zone. Well, not really. But when you compare it how they have performed normally, it wasn’t too bad. I’m trying to keep upbeat a little bit here everyone. Give me a break.

Zone Entries

5 vs 5	Player	# of successful entries	Shots (From Entries)	Shots/Entry	Controlled Entries	Shots (From Control)	Shots/ Control	% With Control
2	Pardy	1	0	0.00	0	0	N/A	0%
5	Stuart	1	0	0.00	0	0	N/A	0%
8	Trouba	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	N/A
9	Kane	6	2	0.33	2	2	1.00	33%
12	Jokinen	4	8	2.00	2	8	4.00	50%
16	Ladd	13	4	0.31	8	3	0.38	62%
18	Little	3	1	0.33	2	1	0.50	67%
22	Thorburn	1	0	0.00	1	0	0.00	100%
24	Clitsome	1	0	0.00	0	0	N/A	0%
26	Wheeler	8	3	0.38	4	3	0.75	50%
27	Tangradi	5	4	0.80	2	2	1.00	40%
33	Byfuglien	4	7	1.75	2	3	1.50	50%
39	Enstrom	3	0	0.00	0	0	N/A	0%
40	Setoguchi	5	3	0.60	2	3	1.50	40%
55	Scheifele	8	4	0.50	5	4	0.80	63%
58	O’Dell	1	1	1.00	1	1	1.00	100%
67	Frolik	4	0	0.00	0	0	N/A	0%
70	Albert	1	0	0.00	1	0	0.00	100%
	JETS	69	37	0.54	32	30	0.94	46%
	OPP	66	27	0.41	36	20	0.56	55%
	OZF	9	4	0.44
	DZF	13	8	0.62

Observations

Again, the Jets have pretty solid success when they actually carry the puck in the zone. They have guys who can create plays and generate offense! The problem is, Claude Noel seems to be completely complacent and willing to have them simply dump and chase on a regular basis. On games like Tuesday’s when they are so successful on their carries that it can make up for all the dumping in, they manage to even out to an average game. Problems arise because the Jets can’t always recover from what is becoming a usual trend of sub-45% control games. It’s anything but a recipe for sustained success.
Mark Scheifele’s excellent night began with his play in the neutral zone. He was the best Jet between the blue lines, and helped generate a plethora of chances for his line. I really hope all this “increased confidence” stuff is true, because I’ve liked what I’ve seen lately. For a while now I’ve been calling for Scheifele to get sent back down to the AHL, but as I said at the start of the year: if he is getting played with the right people, and put in the right situations I can handle him being up in the NHL.
Olli Jokinen and Devin Setoguchi have kind of figured out how to play with a plug on their left wing. It’s pretty clear to me that the only thing Chris Thorburn is good for is taking penalties at bad times. I don’t understand why Eric O’Dell (a goal scorer and the point leader for the Ice Caps) was placed on the fourth line, while a guy who contributes nothing continues to roll on the “second line”. I think I have realistic expectations for Eric in that I don’t expect him to be a huge contributor, but he would be a much more logical decision to play with Jokinen and Seto.
I am also confused as to why Eric Tangradi sits while Chris Thorburn plays. At minimum, Tangradi at least gets the puck into the other teams end. Then on nights like tonight, he generates shot attempts from those entries as well.
Looking at the pure quantity of entries that came from the top line, I was shocked to see how few chances they created. Ladd has gotten into a bit of a habit of dumping pucks deep after carrying them into the zone, so I would think if he stops that things would start improving again. Blake Wheeler has been flying around the ice lately, so I expect them to adjust and get out of this mini-slump rather quickly.

Pavelec Performance

I wasn’t a huge fan of Pavelec’s game on the night. A lot of the Sabres chances missed the net; he kicked out a lot of questionable rebounds, and let in a couple softies. On the other side though, two of the Sabre goals were due to deflections and the Jets did turn the puck over a lot. In no way do I think this game was his fault, but I think it is fair to say he wasn’t one of the few who carried the team Tuesday night either.

Goal	Situation	Why It Went In	Where It Went
1	Turnover	Rebound	Blocker
2	Average Play (Controlled ZE)	Out of Position	Open Net
3	Jets Penalty Kill	Bad Break (Deflection)	Left Pad
4	Average Play (Controlled ZE)	Bad Break (Deflection)	Blocker

Quick Explanations

Everyone failed on this goal. First, Setoguchi pushes the puck too far ahead and turns it over. Pavelec then blindly pushes the easy rebound to the only spot on the ice without a Jet, right onto Ott’s stick, who manages to beat him short side. Just not good all around.

What the heck was Pavelec doing here? In what world is a shot from the bottom of the circle so dangerous that it warrants such an extreme challenge? If Pavelec plays this at all like a normal goaltender should, I seriously doubt he lets that pass go through, or provides such a wide open net for Foligno to score on. This one is completely on Pavelec.

Watch Mark Stuart on this goal. For whatever reason, he leaves Moulson completely alone at the side of the net to stand in front of his own goaltender. This allows Moulson to have probably the easiest tip-in in his entire life. If Byfuglien did this, he would be picked apart. But Mark Stuart is a penalty-killing-wiz that has a permanent spot in the Jets lineup. Logical.

Speaking of Big Buff, he gets caught cheating a fair bit on this one. A bad rebound by Pavelec results in this puck sliding right into the slot, bouncing around a few feet, flicked into the air, and in the back of the net. It was hard to track, but a controlled initial shot would have prevented it.

Things to Watch For

The Jets play the Panthers on Friday night, on what will be the second game of a back-to-back for Florida. There is absolutely no way the Jets should lose that game. At all. Therefore, I am extremely nervous that they will. Here are some things to watch for:

Will Bogosian be back? Bogo is reportedly going through a pretty hard skate this morning at practice, so he is getting a lot closer to returning to the lineup. He has been skating with Enstrom, so I’m curious as to where Trouba will go. Claude can’t be crazy enough to put him back with Stuart on that third pairing could he?
Will O’Dell play again? Assuming everyone is back and healthy Friday night, where will O’Dell fit into the picture? My guess, knowing how Claude works: the press box. I mean, who doesn’t love having Thorburn on the second line, right?
Can Scheifele sustain his play? Sure, the kid has been hot over the last couple games. The next step is to get that level of play on a regular basis. If he can at least continue to be an effective puck handler, carry the puck into the zone, and maybe develop chemistry with Kane I would be a happy camper.

Final Thought

Sadly I’m going to be out of town again for this game. I might be able to get back for the Vancouver game, but if not my posts this weekend will be late. Tis’ the season! Thanks for understanding!