logo
JetsNation has no direct affiliation to the Winnipeg Jets, True North Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
JNR: Offensive Outburst Not Enough As Jets Drop 6-4 Loss In New York
alt
Photo credit: © Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
Art Middleton
Oct 3, 2019, 20:09 EDTUpdated: Oct 3, 2019, 22:10 EDT
Comments
The Jets got into a bit of a crazy track meet with the New York Rangers on opening night and at one point in the third period even had a lead, but the defense and goaltending for Winnipeg couldn’t seal the deal and the Jets dropped to 0-1-0 with a 6-4 loss to the Blueshirts.

First Period

Good pace set by the Jets early on as they carried play for most of the first period. They dominated the period in shots 13-7 which was helped by the fact that @Ryan Strome took a couple of penalties in the first half of the period. The Jets had four shots on the first two power-plays, but no goals.
For as good as the Jets were in the period, it was the Rangers who led off scoring as @Marc Staal scored on a wraparound to beat @Connor Hellebuyck. Seconds earlier, the puck was coughed up by @Anthony Bitetto who was tripped up on the Jets blueline as he skated backwards which helped the Rangers gain possession.
The Jets kept pressing though and six minutes later @Nikolaj Ehlers put in some good work along the boards and found @Mark Scheifele who had some time and space in front of the Rangers net which is never a good thing for the opposing team.

Second Period

What do you get when you have two teams who are pretty well built offensively and have questionable defense? You get what we had in the second period.
The Rangers were able to score quickly in the second period – 27 seconds in fact – thanks to the power play which was a carry over from the first period. The play was a strange one as the puck got Hellebuyck up high and a loose rebound was found by @Artemi Panarin for his first as a New York Ranger.
The Jets replied quickly – 30 seconds in fact – to tie the game as Nik Ehlers once again put on a show with his speed and Blake Wheeler finished off the play with his first of the season.
There started to become themes to this game as we went along. One was that the Jets continued to be the better team overall, but the other was defensive lapses in their own zone which is what led to a Jacob Trouba goal (because of course he’d score in this game) on a pretty darn good shot just as a Jets penalty for too many men had expired.
But again the Jets tied things up in a hurry and again it was the top line leading the way.
The Rangers took the lead two times in the second period and they had a lead in the second period for a grand total of 39 seconds. The shots in the second period were 19-14 for Winnipeg as it was open season on both goalies.
Did I say questionable defense? I actually meant nearly non-existent defense.

Third Period

It wasn’t quite as crazy as the second period, but the third period still pretty frantic and again the ice was tilted in favor of the Jets (shots in the third were 13-9 for Winnipeg, 46-30 for the game) who this time were rewarded for their offensive pressure with a power play goal of their own.
The Jets didn’t exactly give the lead right back within seconds like the Rangers had in the second period, but they still did end up tied about three minutes later as a bad line change (remember how those were an issue in the preseason?) allowed the Rangers to spring @Mika Zibanejad for a breakaway goal.
New York then takes the lead ten minutes later off another crazy goal mouth scramble – something the Jets struggled with all game as any puck filtered towards Hellebuyck seemed like an adventure – when a puck bounced off the back of @Neal Pionk and onto the stick of @Brett Howden.
The Rangers added an empty net goal even with the Jets having a six on four man advantage with a late Rangers penalty and the Jets adding an extra attacker. It didn’t matter as the puck took a crazy bounce into the neutral zone and allowed @Brendan Smith to score uncontested.

TL;DR Why The Jets Lost

The Jets offense showed up. The Jets defense and goaltending were missing in action.
To be honest, we should have known this game was going to be stupid the moment we saw this in the pre-game intros.

JetsNation’s Top Gun

We’re going to ask this during every game, but really didn’t need to ask here. Ehlers was easily the best player on the ice for the Jets tonight with three assists and staking a very strong claim to stay up on the top line with Wheeler and Scheifele.

The Boxscore

Next Up

No rest for the wicked as the Jets will hang around New York tonight and then make a short drive over to Newark to take on the New Jersey Devils in their home opener. Puck drop is at 6:00 pm CST. The game will be on your TV at TSN3 and on your radio on TSN 1260.

Uncategorized

Breaking News