JN Recap – Good Riddance 2016

Let’s make this quick.. We all have better things to do on New Years Eve.

Apparantly so did the Winnipeg Jets because playing in a competitive hockey game seemed like the furthest thing from their minds tonight in a 6-2 drubbing at the hands of the New York Islanders.

I’ll get the obvious out of the way first, the goaltending was not good. Hellebuyck started and with the excepton of the Islanders the second goal where it was John Tavares all by himself three feet in front of the net, Hellebuyck let in goals that simply shouldn’t be scored on a goalie you’d consider a #1 goalie. Hutchinson came in a little past the midway point of the second and allowed two goals himself but by then the damage had been done. There will be lots of talk about goaltending going forward and I’m honestly not sure where the issue is. Did PoMo over-think things and disrupt whatever kind of groove Hellebuyck had after the Blackhawks game? Is this a goalie coach issue? Are Helle and Hutch simply not that good? Maybe it’s a combination of all three…

Try as the Sportsnet guys did tonight, this game was never close and the Jets were out classed. Yes the Jets out-shot the Isles and yes Thomas Greiss deserves some credit for a great performance in the Isles goal, but the shots made were from outside the prime scoring areas in front of the net and taken more around the perimiter. The Jets simply couldn’t capitalize closer in.

The Jets continue to struggle exiting their own zone and have almost a hard enough time trying to get into the offensive zone. The book on beating the Jets is simply applying forecheck pressure on the defense, force a turnover, repeat.

Also in that book is a chapter on how the Jets struggle with transition defense.

Maybe the most noteworthy thing to take place in this game was the reaction from fans who attended. Multiple times the boos rained down on the home side, a bronx cheer given to a goalie who less than 24 hours ago fans were ready to take to the streets in protest that he didn’t start against Columbus, a very loud cheer when Andrew Ladd scored – partly out of respect for what Ladd had done for the Jets, but also you have to believe a mocking cheer towards Jets managment – Jets fans were very vocal with their displeasure tonight. Will it lead to change? Of course not. But it could be the start of many more “rough nights”. It should have maybe happened last season, but fans have had enough with excuses and poor play from a team that *should* be better.