Game 70 @ St. Louis: Scoring Chances and Observations

Despite being completely out-possessed throughout the entire
game, the scoring chance count was actually relatively close.  Was this a result of solid defense from the
Jets, or strategy by the Blues?

Despite only having a single player with a 5 vs 5 Corsi-For
percentage above 45% (Andrew Ladd), the Jets actually managed to keep the
scoring chances pretty darn close.  As
much as I would love to tell you this was all due to some great defensive play
from the Jets that was simply not the case. 
Don’t get me wrong.  I thought the
Jets play did contribute to it a bit, but the Blues were just too skilled at
cycling the puck and controlling the tempo to not realize that this is just the
way they play.  They wear teams down and
pounce on their generated openings for goals. 
In doing so they completely prevented the Jets from sustaining any true
pressure of their own, thus forcing them to take advantage of the few chances
they can muster.

It therefore comes as no surprise that the only Jets line
that plays in a similar fashion on a regular basis was the line that was able
to create the most offense.   This style
of play is the norm for the Jets Ladd-Little-Frolik line.  That’s why I don’t want them split up again,
and why I think the Jets struggled so significantly when they were.

The pairing of Bogosian and Enstrom have had their fair
share of troubles lately.  Actually, let
me rephrase that.  Zach Bogosian has had
his fair share of troubles lately, and it’s had a negative effect on Toby
Enstrom.  Props to Mark Stuart and Jacob
Trouba who have seen increased minutes lately because of it (and have done
alright in that time).  But when Mark
Stuart is being used against top opponents, you know you have some depth
problems.

As impressive as the Jets penalty kill has been this year,
it’s being trumped by the ineptitude of the power play.  I’m extremely confused as to why Kane and
Jokinen get put back together in power play situations, and I think it’s pretty
obvious that the point-shot or bust mentality rarely works.  Hopefully a full offseason with a new coach
will help improve it, because it has nowhere to go but up.

One of the main selling points of realignment were the rivalries
that were going to come of it.  I think
after this game it’s fair to say that the Blues-Jets rivalry is well under way
to becoming something serious.  The teams
don’t seem to like one another very much, and the fans have clearly gotten sick
of each other as well.  It’s about time
that something like this built, it’s just too bad it’s against such a good
team.