Jets Nation Recap: Winnipeg Jets downed by Blackhawks with 31 seconds left

One step forward, and one step back.

That was the story of both the game and also the Jets past four games, continuing their win one, lose one pattern.

The Winnipeg Jets dominated the visiting Chicago Blackhawks for the first ten minutes. It was a masterpiece. They held their opponents to one shot against for the first half of the first. An unfortunate penalty from Dustin Byfuglien put the Jets on the penalty kill and Andrew Shaw scored the games opening goal in the first.

The second period was all Jets, outshooting the Hawks 15-8 and outscoring 3-1 with two goals from Byfuglien, one from Blake Wheeler, and one from Brad Richards.

The Jets continued their strong play in the third, but somehow two slipped by, including the game winner with 31 seconds left in the game.

Let’s break it down.

Pavelec, but different – We praised Ondrej Pavelec when he performed well, so it is only fair that we critique when he plays bad. Pavelec stopped 17 of 20 shots at even strength and 3 of 4 shots on the penalty kill. The Jets defensive zone coverage was far from perfect, but that is the way of the game. Defensive errors happen, but they get highlighted when the goalie doesn’t make the saves.

5-on-5 Swings – The Jets actually played extremely well for even strength, especially early on. The shots were even, but the Jets were able to create more from the prime areas than the Blackhawks. The Jets won the possession battle in the first, while the Hawks in the second, with the third being fairly close.

Time to Change the Lines – The Jets have been winning lately, but there is definitely an argument that their team could be more effective with some player management changes. The Mark Scheifele line has been drowning often lately, taking tough minutes despite not carrying any historically tough minute players, especially Drew Stafford. Jim Slater has been on the third line, despite Mathieu Perreault and Eric O`Dell being far superior hockey players.

Individual scoring chances (iSC), shot attempt differential (Corsi +/-), non-blocked shot attempt differential (Fen +/-), and offensive zone face off as percentage of all non-neutral zone face-offs:

Shot attempt chart for all minutes:

(Courtesy: hockeystats.ca)

Shot location chart:

(Courtesy: war-on-ice)

Jets win if the linesman doesn’t steal Tobias Enstrom’s stick…