Jets Nation Recap: 2015 Ends With a Thud In Loss to Coyotes

Yet again another game where the Jets outshoot their opponent, out chance their opponent and generally carry play for a good majority of the game… All for naught by stupid retaliatory penalties and poor special teams play.

This is how 2015 ends for the Winnipeg Jets, with a 4-2 loss to the Arizona Coyotes that not even the most optimistic of fans can call a “moral victory.”

The Jets outshot the Coyotes 37-21 – That margin was 29-11 after two periods when the game was still tied 1-1. The only reason the Coyotes even had a goal in the first period was because Coyotes goalie Louis Domingue caught the Jets napping and made a nice stretch pass to a streaking Max Domi and Shane Doan headed the other direction on a 2 on 1.

Outside of that the Coyotes had very little in the way of offensive pressure in the first two periods. Their lone saving grace – beyond Domingue who had himself a nice game – was the Jets inability to score on the power play.

One could also argue that while the Jets got plenty of pucks on net, there was far too much perimeter play and not enough crashing of the net and putting bodies in Domingue’s way.

Then of course the Jets – frustrated by not being able to beat an AHL goalie and frustrated by a lineup of agitators – took some rather dumb penalties and the Coyotes made them pay twice.

It was a third period worthy of a bag skate the following day if we’re being honest.

The Good: Adam Lowry popped in the Jets two goals tonight and it’s very nice to see him regain a bit of scoring touch. Perhaps the AHL stint did him a world of good? He sure seems a lot more engaged in the game since he was brought back but that’s also possibly because he’s seen more responsibility with Scheifele out. With 55 ready to return, let’s hope Lowry doesn’t fade back into his pre-AHL play.

The Bad: Special teams continues to be the bane of this team’s existence. 0 for 3 on the power play with only 4 shots taken. The Jets PP is 29th in the NHL. Meanwhile the PK killed only 3 of 5 short handed chances against and both goals came in the third period. The Jets PK is tied for 26th “best” in the NHL with the Minnesota Wild.

The Ugly: Andrew Ladd got mixed up Coyote at the end of the second period and took a retaliatory cross check that the ref nailed him on. The Coyotes scored on that subsequent power play. 11 playing minutes later, Tyler Myers also got mixed up with a Coyote who knocked his stick out of his hands, Myers threw a punch back and got dinged for a retaliatory roughing penalty. The Coyotes iced the game with a goal on that power play. For the record, that’s a collective 18 NHL seasons played and 9.5 million salary taking two very stupid penalties that sunk the Jets tonight. That’s barely inexcusable from two rookies, it’s outright putrid when it’s supposed to be two of your team leaders.

Somehow we think this *might* have been sarcasm…