JNGD.S8.G53 Recap: Thrice Bitten, Jets Shy In Overtime Loss To San Jose

Photo credit:© Terrence Lee-USA TODAY Sports

5 years ago

High on the list of “worst ways to lose a hockey game” would be allowing a short handed goal in overtime. It’s high on the list because it’s an incredibly rare way to lose a game and there has to be a good sized list of mistakes made to have that happen and wouldn’t you know it, the Jets checked off every box on that list.

That said, a 3-2 overtime loss to the San Jose Sharks feels fair considering how poorly the Jets played in two of the three regulation periods and in the end, we should maybe feel fortunate the Jets did manage to salvage a point.

FIRST PERIOD

It started off so well!

Martin Jones gonna Martin Jones at least once a night for San Jose. But to be fair the Sharks defense all around was bad here. Wheeler’s goal three minutes in gave the game a feel like we could see a second strong performance in as many games, but then for whatever reason the Jets slowed down their play while the Sharks started to gain momentum.

A penalty to Trouba halfway into the period led to the Sharks first goal almost instantly after it.

The goal against was bad enough, losing Josh Morrissey felt like dumping a ton of salt into the open wound. JoMo did try to make a return in the second period, but after one quick shift headed back into the dressing room and was sat for the rest of the night.

The Sharks from about the five minute mark on dominated the period. The two Jets penalties in the period didn’t help matters, but playing 5 on 5 the Sharks held a 8-2 edge in scoring chances (3-1 in high danger chances) and really if not for the play of Hellebuyck in the first, it should have been a more lopsided score.

SECOND PERIOD

Again, things start off very well for the Jets early in the period.

This time though the Jets keep up the strong play and continue to get scoring chances, 10 of them in 5v5 play and 15 altogether with the two power play opportunities they had. For a brief moment it did appear the Jets had taken a 3-1 lead with a power play goal, only for it to be wiped out on an offside review on a zone entry that happened 25 seconds earlier.

The period ends with the Jets in the lead both in shots taken and in goals.

THIRD PERIOD

Where the heck did the second period Jets go? We liked that group. Somehow someone let the first period Jets back into the building, only amazingly enough they were even worse.

The Sharks tied it up early in the period as five jets got caught just looking at a loose puck instead of trying to fire it away from a danger zone.

And it only got worse from there. A couple of breakaway chances given up – stopped by Hellebuyck. A few Sharks scoring chances created from turnovers due to poor zone exits – stopped by Hellebuyck.

That this game even finished tied in regulation was because of Connor Hellebuyck.

The Jets were out-chanced 12-2 in 5 on 5 play and 18-5 overall. yes, the Jets were hurting playing with only five defensemen and none of those five being named Morrissey or Byfuglien, but it wasn’t like the forward group were going much better outside of maybe the Jets third line which didn’t get completely owned by a Sharks team that stayed consistent and didn’t do anything extraordinary.

The Jets just weren’t any good for about 40 minutes of this 60 minute game, yet they at least got a point out of it.

OVERTIME

The overtime session was 2:49 long before Joe Pavelski ended it with a shorthanded goal.

Blake Wheeler was on the ice for 2:25 of that overtime. Mark Scheifele was on ice for 2:35 of it. Patrik Laine on ice for 2:13.

Why?

How was this a good idea? Who let this happen? Did the players go rouge? Did Paul Maurice really want them out on the ice that long?

Yes the Jets had a 4 on 3 power play to start the overtime which was carried over from regulation and then yes the Jets were handed another power play soon after that one ended on a boneheaded play by Evander Kane…

At some point, did anyone outside a handful of fans get about two minutes into the overtime and think “huh, that trio of players has been on the ice for WAY too long, they should get off the ice”?

You can call out Scheifele for the bad pass to Laine. You can call out Laine for the bad puck handling or call out Wheeler for the poorly played two on one defending… But all of that was a product of being gassed and that’s because they were out for 98% of the overtime period and at some point Paul Maurice should have been yelling louder than he ever had in his previous 1,499 games as a head coach for them to get their ass to the bench for fresh players.

It didn’t happen.

At least they got a point and hopefully a lesson learned.

The good…

Perreault’s 300th career point
Hellebuyck was fantastic with a .921 save percentage. Miss me with the “hE aLLoWeD thR33 gOalS aGAiN” hot takes. This game doesn’t get to overtime without Hellebuyck.

The bad…

Seeing Laine’s facial expressions as he kept firing pucks at the net and either being stopped or missing the net altogether. If you’ve ever played any kind of competitive sport, you know that look. The kid is in his own head. Four shots on goal, another six “missed.” At some point he’s going to breakout and the relief you as a fan may have over it will be nothing compared to the relief he’ll have.
Josh Morrissey’s injury of course is bad, but let’s take some hope that his effort to get back into the game at the start of the second period means it might not be that bad. Paul Maurice said post-game that he was day-to-day and could play Thursday in Montreal.

The ugly…

The first and third periods were just awful and it’s even worse when you factor in how well they played in the second period. The Sharks didn’t do anything out of the ordinary to win this game other than be persistent and not completely let things get out of hand in the second. This is one of those cases where the Jets salvaged a point but this game feels like an awful loss and a missed opportunity to get two full points.