Takeaways from Jets Disappointing Loss to the Blues
By KB
4 years agoOld habits die hard. The Jets reverted back to their ways of last season where they held a lead in the third period only to see it slip away in the dying seconds of the game. For the full game recap of last night, click here.
Like any preseason game, there are many things that we learned during last nights game. Here’s a few takeaways and tidbits of note from the third preseason game.
1) Ehlers is ready for the regular season
This was Ehlers first game in the preseason and he looked fantastic. He was easily the Jets best player all game as he scored the opening goal, assisted on the second and looked dangerous the rest of the game.
The biggest takeaway from watching Ehlers is how fast he is. Everyone knows how speedy the winger can be, but it’s magnified in the preseason when the lineups include some sub-par defensmen.
Ehlers strong game proves he’s ready for the regular season. It hardly looked like he had a summer off and hasn’t played hockey in a long time. That’s really good news for the Jets who want to have a strong start to the season.
2) The veterans can play
It was an interesting look last night as the Jets had an all veteran line with Perreault playing with Letestu and Bourque. It remains to be seen where Letestu will fit in the organization, but this line as a whole was very good all game.
They generated plenty of chances as the game wore along, even scoring the go ahead goal with only three minutes left in the game.
I would be wary of having this as a full time line, but it’s nice to see them play and have a strong game together.
3) Is Roslovic the new Tanev?
Jack Roslovic suited up alongside Lowry and Copp in this one. The line was strong for most of the game as they got in on the forecheck and disrupted the Blues repeatedly.
Roslovic could easily slide into the Tanev role and use his speed in a similar way. The benefit to Roslovic is that he has a higher ceiling than Tanev and also has more skill to help boost the offensive ability of the line.
If the Jets want to keep the top six intact, Roslovic is the likely candidate to play alongside Lowry and Copp to start the year.
Other Tidbits
- It was a rough game for Hellebuyck who looked a bit shaky in this game. A few pucks got behind him early and Lowry had to make a save late in the third period as another puck squeezed through Hellebuyck in the crease. It’s not a point of worry for Jets fans, but hopefully Hellebuyck can get another game or two under his belt to feel more comfortable by game one.
- Heinola continues to impress as he played an excellent game. This strong training camp prompted questions about Heinola potentially sticking around the NHL this year.
- Did we get a look at the second powerplay unit last night? One of the groups featured Pionk, Ehlers, Perreault, Roslovic all on the PP. The only revision would be swapping Letestu for Little and that could easily be the second unit this season. They showed some promising signs early on with some really nice puck movement.
- The Jets still don’t know how to close out a game. One would hope that Winnipeg would learn how to play with a lead in the third period during the preseason so that these things wouldn’t happen during the regular season. Instead, the Jets reverted back to allowing late goals, just like last season. Even though it’s preseason, giving up a lead is never a good thing to do.
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