The start was solid, expectations were up and then the usual happened. A first goal, then a second allowed shortly after and the fans' mood once again turned sour. It was an old refrain again from the faithful as Twitter filled up with comments of 'solid effort to start the game', 'Jets have looked good in the beginning', and 'the first five minutes are encouraging'.
Aside from the good thoughts and optimism reality quickly set in, as it usually does with Winnipeg. A power play that could no convert and within a few minutes of missed opportunities the Jets were down 2-0. Old habits die hard.
It got worse because while the Jets PP failed to convert the Sharks made it look easy on theirs as Dan Boyle took a filthy pass from Pavelski across the front of the crease and easily put past Pavelec.
It got worse though as the pairing of Byfuglien and Clitsome left an opening so wide Hertl could have been pulling a semi as he took a long pass from Demers to put the Sharks up by two goals in the first period.
Cue the naysayers, critics, cynics and whoever else has piled on this team in recent weeks or days (yours truly included) as no one wanted another performance like what was seen against Chicago.
Not all was lost as the Jets kept pressing, and didn't give up hope. Perhaps it was the pre-game ceremony having an effect. One where a veteran nicknamed Kroppy was honoured. He's a bit of a celebrity in Winnipeg as he is shown during each anthem saluting at the end from his ice-level seats. This week the Jets and their broadcast sponsors made sure the fans got to know more about Kroppy and his servicve story.
All the being said- today is Remembrance day. I have a lot of family that served in the military, both grandfathers my own father and many uncles. If you live in Winnipeg it's hard to not know some one who has connections to the military. So if you are out today getting a coffee, pay it forward, say thanks or acknowledge them. We remember today in the hopes that no ever experiences the horrors of war, of any scale. Make friends not war.
The second period started with more pressure from the Jets and it was Matt Haslischuk who was able to get past the Sharks defense before feeding a silky pass to Frolik who put it past a reaching Niemi. The Sharks responded fast though as they Wingels potted one up stairs where mom keeps the peanut butter and the Sharks restored their three goal lead.
The response came quick from the Jets though as they got some position in the Sharks zone and with Wright providing a screen Byfuglien took the feed from Clitsome and blasted one that deflected off a Sharks player and past Niemi.
The Jets continued their pressure and from a nearly identical spot with the two defense reversed Clitsome stepped in and fired a wrist shot on net that caught something to fool Niemi and the game was tied.
The Sharks PP came alive again to give the visitors the lead as Boyle got an early goal to start the third. The Jets showed something that has been distincltly missing this season: resolve. They battled hard as you can see from the graph below.
With just over a minute and half left in the third it was the captain Andrew Ladd who brought the house down for the first of two times as he took a feed from Bryan Little and fired a quick wrist shot from the slot to beat Niemi.
In OT the Jets piled on more chances but could not solve the problem that was Niemi, the goalie who stopped 42 of 46 shots.
Shootouts are not the Jets forte, either from a scoring point of view or a goaltending one but that was only plartially the case last night. Once again it was Andrew Ladd who as the last shooter scored the lone shootout goal. It was a nifty toe-drag type move that froze Niemi and allowed Ladd the opportunity to rip the puck up high and score.
Pavelec did his job on the final shooter and the Jets came out with a win and necessary two points in a game where they never had the lead. Just when everyone is preparing for the worst with the Jets they go out and beat Detroit, blank Nashville then make some Shark fin soup. So it's safe to say that we're all just asking a different series of questions.
Pete's Points
I tweeted out a comment last night about Evander Kane and anyone seeing him? The Sharks did a good job to hold him at bay as he only had 3 shots in 25 mins of ice time.
Last night we saw the Good, the Bad and the Byfuglien of the Jets big defender. Does the good outweigh the other parts of his game? I think it did last night.
One tweet I sent out seemed to gather a lot of responses. I've noticed a trend that it seems more and more media use Twitter as a way of trying to reinforce that they are smarter than the reader. The tweet was meant as more of broad-based observation and not at anyone in particular, particularly in Winnipeg. It's one of the downsides to interactivity but communication is a two-way street and I bet it gets real tiring having your @'s filled with drive-by BS.
When the Jets get healthy and players such as Trouba and Slater return where does that leave the bottom six and the defense pairings? They are not ideal right now and I wonder with all the recent moves around the NHL if Chevy is not getting some calls about a player or two.
Jets go to Motown for action tomorrow before coming home to host the hot mess that is Philly. It might be interesting to see what the Flyers look like by the end of the week.
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