Jets Nation Recap: Talbot Stymies Jets; Oilers Win 3-1

As far as “moral victories” go, this was a good one.

The Jets fell behind 2-0 halfway through the first period but came roaring back to fire 45 shots at Oilers goalie Cam Talbot who stopped 44 of them to secure a 3-1 Edmonton win.

Textbook moral victory for the Jets tonight, but sadly they count for the same amount of points as a regulation loss does.

After a tepid start to the game by both teams, the Oilers got things rolling with a bad angle Teddy Purcell shot that deflected off the skate of Mark Stuart and past Connor Hellebuyck. About two minutes later the Oilers added a second as Leon Draisaitl zipped a cross-ice pass to Purcell who blasted the one-timer past Hellebuyck for the 2-0 lead.

The Jets seemed to respond a little bit towards the end of that first period but seven minutes into the second period, Justin Schultz smartly cheated in from the blueline, snuck past Andrew Ladd and took another cross-ice pass from Purcell to make it 3-0 Oilers.

Cue the mercy pull for Hellebuyck which seemed to wake up the Jets who then carried play for pretty much the rest of the game as they outshot the Oilers 33-10 in the final two periods, but were stone walled by Cam Talbot.

The only goal the Jets were able to scratch across was a bunt single by Bryan Little that got past Talbot just as an Oilers penalty had expired.

Powerless Play: Sure Talbot was great, but it’s almost inexcusable to go 0 for 5 with the extra man – one of those power plays being a minute long 4 on 3 which had chances but didn’t feature a whole lot of quick puck movement. That in fact was a major story the whole night as the Jets prefered to keep the puck along the high perimeter and didn’t force the issue down low or around the net.

Hockey Is Helle Sometimes: The numbers look ugly for Hellebuyck who finished the night stopping only 11 of 14 shots (.786) and took the L, but the team in front of him should owe him an apology as all three goals against would have been nearly impossible for any goalie in the league to stop. The deflection off Stuart was bad luck – although Stuart’s defending there left a lot to be desired – and there isn’t much a goalie can do when a puck slides 45 to 50 feet from one side to the other, tape to tape and is fired towards the net within a half second of the pass being completed. Tough night for the kid who shouldn’t have to take any blame here.

One Positive: The Jets only took one silly penalty all game really – Thorburn’s slash in the offensive zone early in the first period. Ladd was also handed a goalie interference penalty in the third period but it was an iffy call at best. The Jets PK killed both of them off and looked good both times doing it, so.. yay?

(The following charts are courtesy War-On-Ice.com)