Jets Nation Recap: Jets Fall 3-2 to the St. Louis Blues
8 years ago
I was going to work in some obvious pun with word ‘Blues’, but I don’t think anyone is feeling up for witty little puns tonight.
I’ll start with some good things first, since I think we all need that right now.
The Winnipeg Jets did not look bad tonight. After getting thrashed last game 7-0 by the Nashville Predators, the Jets really wanted to come out with a better effort tonight. They certainly did that, staying competitive with a very strong St. Louis Blues hockey club on the road.
Their defending was much better, they looked a lot more fluid on offense and created a lot of opportunities, and got back to playing a more physical style of hockey which was a staple of their success last season.
They only managed 18 shots on Jake Allen tonight, but the Blues net-minder had to make quite a few outrageous saves to keep his team ahead. It’s hard to say a goaltender was the difference in the game when that goaltender only faces 18 shots, but Allen certainly was the difference tonight.
Also, the Jets will now return home after playing eight of their last nine games on the road.
Now, the bad.
At the end of the day, this team has now lost six straight games and seven of their last eight. There hasn’t been many positives through this skid either.
They have simply been out-played, out-battled, out-hustled, out-everything as of late. You can definitely take some positives in the way the Jets played tonight, and if they continue to put in the same effort going forward, they will be okay. Still, the Jets need to start getting back to winning games, or it will be a long, painful year for them.
THREE KEYS
Tarasenk-show: The Jets limited his damage to just the first period, but Vladdy Tarasenko put on a show in the first that was mostly dominated by the Blues. He scored on a laser of a wrist-shot from the high slot to open the scoring, then fed David Backes as he crashed the net for a goal. I mean literally crashed the net. Backes went full on Superman into the net. Backes did have a day himself, as he also scored the eventual game-winner on a nifty backhand, shelf goal.
Jake ‘The Snake’ Allen: As I stated earlier, he didn’t have to make many saves, but he did have to stop a few very high-danger scoring chances. Allen is having a Vezina-worthy season so far and he continued that tonight, making the crucial saves when needed and getting his team the win.
Jets Depth: The Jets were winning games in October because they were getting scoring from everyone. Lately, it has just been the top line of Andrew Ladd, Bryan Little and Black Wheeler. The Jets instilled a lot of youth into this lineup this year and right now we are witnessing the growing pains. Last season, they had dependable, veteran depth forwards such as Lee Stempniak, Michael Frolik and Jiri Tlusty. They replaced those veterans with rookies Nik Ehlers, Nic Petan and Andrew Copp, as well as young forward Alex Burmistrov. While each one of these players will most likely be important players for the Jets going forward, right now they are dealing with the inconsistencies that always comes with being a rookie. Jets just need to weather the storm until these young guns start contributing again.
YOUR HOT TAEKS
Blows big, hairy chunks indeed.
That’s uhhhh…..that’s…..accurate.
P.S.: I see you with that Burmi-face avi. Let’s be twitter buddies.
If you are just starting to drink now, you are way late to the party, my friend.
CHARTS AND STUFF
Shot attempts chart for all minutes.
Shot location for all minutes.
GIF RECAP
Trying to ignore this losing streak until it goes away like….
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