JETS POST-GAME 29: HUNH?! OKAY, THEN…

 

What’s the proper headline?Jets take a bite out of the Big Ap— no, no, that’s not right. Jets fly right through the Big Orchard… no.  Rangers should have started Lundquist! There we go. Look, it doesn’t matter, Jets win, that’s rad, there was some exciting plays and off they go to Florida to build on all the successful elements they implemented tonight, like… well, there was Trouba blocking shots and… just how did they win this game?!

That were an ugly 60 minutes of hockey, Jetsons, and that win was mostly luck and opportunism. If you were looking for a textbook execution of anything, tonight was not the game to watch. If you wanted to see the Jets pull off a Hollywood sports movie win – a seemingly ragtag group of guys assembled off the streets to play the well-oiled, well-funded legacy team, well, then you had a good time. If you were a stats guy or a Rangers fans you were bewildered. By every measure, The Rangers were the better team but were not rewarded for their efforts. The rewards went to the mooks who happened to keep finding themselves in the right place at the right time. I’m sure the Jets will chuckle, grab a slice of pep & mush, and run off to Florida faster than a toy company backpedaling away from the wrath of The Beastie Boys. No sleep til Sunrise. Here’s a few notable high and lowlights:

 

Yup, the best group of Jets on the night by far was the deeply mocked (by us here at JN, to be fair) JTS line: "Jump The Shark" or, if you must, Jokinen/Throburn/Setoguchi. Okay, so we really only mocked Thorburn, but he made us eat our words. Two points, hard, physical play, and a team best Corsi of 52.4%. Noel, you sonofamuther, how dare your hunch pay off?! Honestly, though, Guch & Oli (my favourite CBC kids show, 1978-1984) have developed terrific chemistry and are playing with confidence. Thorburn had some chances and kept things moving for the skilled duo but he doesn’t really belong in that role. He was a 4^th liner understudying as a 2^nd liner and was up to it at least for tonight. Still, they were fun to watch and really the only members of the Jets that looked like they played on a team. And since they had success, the line will be broken up immediately.

Hard to admit but his play, as flippy-floppy as a trout in hauled into a Zodiac, was effective enough to keep the team in the game in the first when it looked like they might get dominated. This is a very cautious endorsement however, since the Rangers missed on a number of chances where Drej invited them into his open house like a desperate realtor trying to unload a leaky condo. And the rebounds? Good lord, he’s like a one man game of Pong.

Another hesistant endorsement. He made some exciting plays offensively and blocked a bunch of shots but the kid is risky. As a fan you like confidence, but coaches might prefer discipline. We’ll see how the coaches assess his performance.

Did everything you can ask of him. Strong game, points on the board, bodies into the boards, responsible in his own end and a sweet, sweet pick-off of a Brassard pass attempt that lead to call-up John Albert’s first (and spectacular) first goal. Thanks, Buf. You’re a champ!

Come on, dude. Mike Johnson called him a “stalwart defenseman for the Jets”. I think he just meant “wart”. Took a useless penalty that luckily didn’t cost the Jets but it was emblematic of his typical play.

Dude, come on. That giveaway that led to the first Rangers goal was awful. Another giveaway in the 2^nd almost lead to another Rangers goal. This is a long way from the promise of a 1^st round pick. Hang in there, buddy.

On must you come, Dude. Trouba’s gift doesn’t count as breaking a slump. First line was kind of pointless tonight. Come to think of it, aside from the empty-netter, they were, in fact, pointless.

No sustained offensive pressure, lots of one-and-out’s, terrible PP, terrible play along the boards. Seriously, this was a win borne of turnovers and rushes. The coaches might as well have been playing Pictionary on their dry-erase boards. In most cases, if you’re winning, the default logic might be “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. We know plenty is broke but tonight there was no way to tell if there’s been any work is being done to fix it. It was all scramble, baby, eggshells and all, yet still somehow the team ate up a full two point helping.

Spinning wheel, round and round – ya place yer bets and ya takes yer chances! This team absolutely needs upgrades to be properly competitive in the league. They need depth, they need goaltending, they need consistency and they really need to be able to execute a game plan. If you insist on telling me any of those things were on display tonight, you had more spiced rum than I did. Hey, I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade but we just burgled two points off of the Rangers, we didn’t quite earn them. Don’t be surprised if they don’t follow up with another improvised success in Florida. Tim Thomas will probably have a different script to read from than Cam Talbot did.

Go Jet ‘em!