JN Recap – Jets Follow Same Old Formula In OT Loss To Caps

GAME THOUGHTS

• Not that I mind watching hockey – love it really – but if the Jets are going to just keep doing this, can I suggest to the NHL that we just skip the first two periods, agree that the Jets will be down three or four to nothing (some stats nerd can come up with a formula that figures out how many the Jets would be behind going into the third period had it been actually played) and we just go directly to the third period? This would just save everyone time and allow us to either watch more hockey or take up activities like walking on a bed of nails or trying to shave cats… Ya know, things that I am sure cause less stress than watching Jets hockey right now.

• Is the issue with second periods that the opposing team makes adjustments and the Jets don’t? These poor second periods usually follow what is normally a strong opening period for the Jets, so are the Jets guilty of being complacent going into the second? I don’t think it’s either of these things and would look at the fact that the second period is the one where the benches are on the opposite side of the defending zone and right now the Jets have issues getting pinned down in their own zone. They get hemmed in, they panic, the panic leads to turnovers and those lead to goals.

• Adam Lowry is in this strange place with Jets fans right now and as someone who kinda has his ears to the ground of the social medias, it’s facinating to see him get ripped for hours on end for being on the Jets top power play unit (something that isn’t *his* doing right?) or for having “hands of stone” and then when he does do something well – like scoring which is what he’s done two games in a row now – everyone loves the kid. Myself? I lean towards the idea that Lowry is a great bottom six guy and someone you should put on a PP to be a big body presense.. Maybe just not in place of Patrik Laine.

• Speaking of Laine, he had a rough game which is going to happen more often than not when you’re a rookie. Forget it and move on.

• People are ripping on Michael Hutchinson and look, I get it. An .875 save percentage is ugh-ly, but I fail to see where any of those four goals were ones I’d call gimmie saves. If you leave opposing players alone within five feet of the net with the puck for any more than two seconds without challenging them, they are going to score and in all three regulation time goals against the Caps had a player that got behind or away from the Jets defense and had time and space to do whatever they wanted in front of Hutch.

• The Jets defense is bad and it should feel bad.

• I’m going to be upset when Marko Dano is sent back down once people get healthy… If they ever get healthy. At the rate injuries are happening, I am tempted to get my gear and hang around MTSC with a sign saying “will play a bottom six role for food” .. Anyway Dano is great and should be ahead of Thorburn (congrats to him and his wife on the new child) and Burmistrov.

• Speaking of Burmi, this is a thing that happened…

• I feel like the NHL created 3 on 3 OT with teams like the Capitals in mind. Too much firepower to begin with and then when you take a penalty (and yes Jets fans, it absolutely was the correct call to have too many men on the ice as Buff and Ehlers were way too far away from their own bench when the next two Jets jumped on the ice) to make it four on three, you may as well wave a white flag and call it a night.

• That all said it was amazing to see this team scrap and claw to get the game tied.. again… I just have zero idea why they can’t do that in the first 50 minutes or so of regulation game play.

CHARTS N STUFF

TL;DR GIF RECAP