Game 55 vs Nashville: Pavelec Performance & Neutral Zone Play

10 years ago

Umm….yuck.

Jets fans at the MTS Centre were treated to three games in one last night against the Predators. First, we had a defensive dual. Next, there was a scrambled effort as the Jets were caught chasing in their own end for far too long. Finally, they really turned it on and showed everyone how dangerous they really can be. In the end, a couple weird bounces kept the Jets in this game, while some inferior goaltending pulled them right back out of it.

Zone Entries

5 vs 5	Player	# of successful entries	Shots (From Entries)	Shots/Entry	Controlled Entries	Shots (From Control)	Shots/ Controlled	% With Control
2	Pardy	1	0	0.00	0	0	N/A	0%
5	Stuart	2	1	0.50	0	0	N/A	0%
7	Ellerby	3	1	0.33	1	0	0.00	33%
8	Trouba	2	0	0.00	1	0	0.00	50%
12	Jokinen	6	1	0.17	2	1	0.50	33%
14	Peluso	0	0	N/A	0	0	N/A	N/A
16	Ladd	2	4	2.00	1	4	4.00	50%
17	Wright	1	0	0.00	0	0	N/A	0%
18	Little	3	3	1.00	3	3	1.00	100%
22	Thorburn	3	2	0.67	1	1	1.00	33%
26	Wheeler	10	3	0.30	10	3	0.30	100%
33	Byfuglien	2	0	0.00	1	0	0.00	50%
39	Enstrom	1	0	0.00	0	0	N/A	0%
40	Setoguchi	4	3	0.75	3	2	0.67	75%
44	Bogosian	5	2	0.40	3	2	0.67	60%
55	Scheifele	5	2	0.40	4	1	0.25	80%
58	O’Dell	1	0	0.00	0	0	N/A	0%
67	Frolik	9	8	0.89	6	6	1.00	67%
	JETS	60	30	0.50	36	23	0.64	60%
	OPP	59	29	0.49	26	17	0.65	44%
	OZF	10	4	0.40
	DZF	8	1	0.13

Observations

The Jets, for the first time in a long time, controlled over 50% of their entries in this game. This allowed them to control play on the occasions that they were able to get out of their end and, if maintained, is a recipe for future success.
Michael Frolik is an absolutely excellent neutral zone player, and that was on full display against the Preds. He made the right decisions on almost every occasion, and was the anchor on what ended up being the Jets best possession line on the night. This grouping of Ladd-Little-Frolik is starting to come together pretty well. That’s huge for this team long term.
Ladd, Little and Frolik may have been the Jets best possession line, but I would have to argue that Scheifele and Wheeler alone were the Jets best line. Despite Chris Thorburn scoring his first goal of the season (even a broken clock is right twice a day), he looked slow and basically useless out there with 55 and 26. You don’t have to look much further than their shots/entry numbers for proof of that. They got the puck in, and usually with control. It’s just hard to constantly produce when you’ve only got two competent forwards together.
Byfuglien continues to be a hindrance to the Jets in the neutral zone. While Setoguchi was decently efficient with his carries, it appears Jokinen has really started to just dump the puck in on a regular basis, hoping for Buff to create a turnover and opportunity of some sort. That’s not a very effective method in the long term.

Pavelec Performance

Pavelec really did let his guys down Tuesday night. He wasn’t very good at all, and it seems to me that the local media is finally starting to pick up on it. I honestly think Maurice coming into the fold is Pavelec’s last chance as a starter. He hasn’t really impressed me much recently, and should be on his last legs as a starter in this league.

Goal	Situation	Why It Went In	Where It Went
1	Average Play (Controlled ZE)	Out of Position	Right Pad
2	Skilled Play	Beat Clean	Open Net
3	Sustained Pressure	Out of Position	Open Net
4	Average Play (Controlled ZE)	Rebound	Open Net

Quick Explanations

This should never happen. Pavelec, as he normally does, ridiculously over-committed to Seth Jones when he was in a terribly low position and wasn’t fast enough to recover. Regardless of Bogosian’s misread, that puck cannot go in the net. This goal is 100% Pavelec’s fault.

First, Mark Stuart got way out of position as the Preds entered the zone, which set this all up. Next, this was a pretty nice play by the Preds skaters. Finally, Pavelec really didn’t react to the play well. He was slow to move across the crease, and over-committed with each movement. Elite goalies have a chance at making this save. Pavelec, took himself out of that opportunity. This was everyone’s fault.

Pavelec reads this poorly, gets on his knees early, gets deep in his net, and is way too slow to react to the pass out front. Again, good goalies have a much better chance to make this save, and he forced himself into a desperate attempt.

Pavelec loses the puck and Fisher buries it into the open cage. It’s never a good night when you let three goals into a wide-open net.

Things to Watch For

The Jets next game comes against a struggling team right now in the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks just haven’t been able to put the puck in the net lately, and being without head coach John Tortorella and captain Henrik Sedin hasn’t helped. Here are some things to watch for heading into Friday night’s game:

Who will get the start in goal? Pavelec hasn’t exactly been steady in either of his last two starts, and Al Montoya was an absolute machine against the Blackhawks. I think we will get a good look into what degree Pavelec’s contract and the TNSE voice has in decision making as we head towards Friday’s game. The logical choice is to put Monty back in net.
Will Thorburn remain on the second line? Dear God I hope not. When Eric O’Dell has been provided the opportunities with the scoring players he has looked good. Chris Thorburn simply has not. He looked out of place with Scheifele and Wheeler, and I think O’Dell should be in that spot until Evander gets healthy.
How long will Buff remain a forward? He hasn’t looked good at all up front in his last few games. His points have all come in situations that have him playing along the blue line, and size can only take him so far. He is a naturally gifted defenseman and the Jets need him back there. Unfortunately, I don’t see him making the move back there until Evander is healthy again, but you never know. A guy can hope, right?

Final Thought

Paul Postma was sent down to the Ice Caps today in order to complete a conditioning assignment before getting time with the big boys. Coming off of a blood clot is a pretty obscure injury, so I’m honestly not sure how long we can expect him to be down there. I would think it won’t be too long of a stretch, but it’ll be interesting to see how things change once he is ready to go. It’s good to see him healthy again.