Game 64 vs. LA Kings: Scoring Chances & Observations

Just a fair head up before you open this article, these
numbers are about as ugly as you would expect them to be following a game like
Thursday’s. I’m talking about as ugly as it gets. Probably by some players you
like. But hey…enjoy!

I warned you. The Jets put up a decent fight in the first,
and forced the Kings to have to get in the lanes and block a few chances from
being tallied.  Unfortunately, the Kings
just got more and more dominant as the game went on.  The lone Jet power play was ineffective, the
penalty kill was leaky… it was just an ugly game to watch if you were a Jets
fan.  

I’m actually going to give a bit of credit to Jim Slater
here.  Since he returned to the lineup
the Jets fourth line has actually avoided being feasted on as much as they
usually have been.  This game in
particular, they were the only line out there to not have a chance against
them.  To be fair, they don’t exactly
face tough competition or generate any offence. 
But in the past, things would get ugly. 
Thanks for that, Jim!

Stuart and Trouba had a game to forget.  They were by far the Jets most dominated
pairing.  This could have probably been
predicted less than ten minutes into the game when CBC ‘celebrated’ the fact
that Stuart had already blocked four shots. 
Stu has played all right recently. 
Could this be the start of his regression?

Here we can also find further proof that Dustin Byfuglien is
pretty darn ineffective up front.  His
possession and scoring chance numbers have gone into a serious tailspin ever
since he was moved to forward.  Wasn’t
the point of it to prevent the Jets from playing poor defence and giving up
scoring chances? Yeah… that’s not going so well.

It really comes as no surprise that not only Byfuglien, but
also his line mates in Kane and Jokinen were terrible as well.  I’m not sure what Maurice has seen in this
line to make him think it’s worth keeping together.  It needs to change.  Kane and Jokinen do not work.

Michael Frolik is a heck of a player.  Despite some struggles with his entries, he
was one of only two Jet forwards to finish the game in the positives in the
scoring chance count.  I’m not sure I can
support keeping him at center for too long while there are prospects in the
waiting, but he did manage some positive output against the Kings.

The Jets are looking to avoid their third straight loss
Saturday afternoon against the Sens. They currently sit three points out of the
final wild card spot behind the Dallas Stars, and can’t risk falling further
behind (or handing over more games in hand to) them if they wish to make the
playoffs.  The Jets chances of making it
have been falling quite steadily as the Stars continue to surge, making it more
and more important that this losing streak comes to an end.