Jets Nation Recap: Deep Sixing The Jackets

Photo credit:Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports

7 years ago

Six in a row. The Winnipeg Jets have won six in a row. In a way, it’s great to see the team play well but where was this when the games actually mattered? The Jets continue their role of spoiler as they edged the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-4 at Nationwide Arena. The loss for Columbus combined with Pittsburgh’s win over New Jersey gives the Pens home ice advantage over the Jackets in their upcoming first round playoff series.

Game Notes:

It was a night of debuts for the Jets. Eric Comrie and Jack Roslovic made their first appearances in the NHL. Comrie was a busy man between the pipes, stopping 35 out of 39 Columbus shots for a .897 save percentage. Not mind-blowing, but it was good enough on this night. Roslovic, the Columbus native, was on a line with plugs Chris Thorburn and Brandon Tanev for the most part. The rookie only saw 8:40 of ice time and was at 35% CF%. Not great but he needs better linemates in order to show what he can really do.
After Nick Foligno opened the scoring, the Jets got goals from Jacob Trouba and Mark Scheifele to give them the lead going into the first intermission. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff probably had a wry smile when he saw his first round picks from 2011 and 2012 score. Chevy has done well in the first round but he needs to compliment this team a bit better with depth on the blueline and in the crease. Those must be his prime objectives this offseason.
Mathieu Perreault made it 3-1 early in the second and it looked like the Jets were in cruise control. But two Brandon Saad goals put Columbus level as the second period drew to a close. The Jets were running around quite a bit in their own end and they paid for it in the middle frame.
Trouba scored his second of the night on the power play early in the third as the Jets regained the lead in the process. Bryan Little scored the eventual winner midway through the third as he finished off a lovely Perreault feed. Boone Jenner made it interesting with 6:00 remaining, but the Jets hung on despite some good pressure by Columbus late.
Both Perreault and Little had three-point nights in the win. There has been talk that Perreault may be exposed in the expansion draft this summer and he may be Vegas bound. I hope the Jets protect him as Perreault is a creative player with a high hockey IQ. With the league starting to value skill over grit, (thank you analytics) Perreault is the type of player you need at this time.