JNGD.S8.S11 Instant Recap: Dustin Gives Jets A Massive Buff With GWG Against Red Wings

Photo credit:© Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

5 years ago

Put yet another one into the “it wasn’t pretty, but..” file.

The Jets struggled with another slow start and for a while it looked like the lowly Red Wings were going to come away with a stunning result, but the Jets righted the ship just enough in the final two periods to escape Detroit with two points in the standings and a win thanks to Dustin Byfuglien’s mid-third period heroics.

TALKING POINTS

Another game, another poor/slow start which is all kinds of frustrating of course but even more so when you consider their opposition came into the game with the worst record in the league. And yes, you can’t take any team lightly, but the Red Wings are just not good right now and the Jets somehow made them look like a decent NHL club very capable of beating the Jets in that first period.
Jets were out shot 14-9 in that first period and it was mostly played 5 on 5 even strength. That’s not good.
To their credit the Jets were much better the last 40 minutes of the game, but they were helped by the Red Wings knack for taking penalties. They gave up three straight power plays in the middle of the period, the third of which saw the Jets finally score to even things up thanks to a Kyle Connor goal.
The Jets ended up out-shooting the Red Wings 21-4 in the second period and really should have had a lead going into the second intermission. Jimmy Howard was absolutely stellar for the Red Wings.
Speaking of goaltending, Laurent Brossoit got his third start of the season and ended up with his third win with a very impressive 27 save performance. We shouldn’t be quite ready to deem him a brilliant off-season signing just yet, but it’s getting close.
Paul Maurice – likely fed up with the poor starts this season – had the line blender out in the second period and for the most part it seemed to work, although putting Patrik Laine with Jack Roslovic and Brendan Lemieux seems very less than ideal.
Brandon Tanev took a shot to his ribs from about five feet away as he was almost parallel to the ice and after he skated off rather gingerly and headed to the dressing room, he was back out minutes later, presumably because he is in fact not human, but a machine. A machine that we wish didn’t block so many shots, but when you’ve programmed a machine to do a task, it doesn’t hesitate
Dustin Byfuglien’s game winning goal was also his 100th goal as a Winnipeg Jet and the 500th point of his career.