That title is part of a tweet from Patrick Williams
@pwilliamsNHL after the game. For Ruff it may be the beginning of the end for his run with the Sabres but it doesn't tell the story of the game.
Despite Little potting the opening goal just sixty seconds in and then Andrew Ladd increasing the lead by another at nearly the six minutes into the second period the game was close- just as a one goal game should be.
The game was marked by the characteristic charge in the opening 5-10 minutes by the Jets but unlike previous outings the visitors had a lead to show for it and possibly could have had more on the score sheet.
The game was preceeded by much discussion about some comments from Blake Wheeler where he had described a 'mood of negativity surrounding the team' based on having to answer questions from the media. The discussion on Jets broadcast partner TSN1290 became heated when host Andrew Patterson and partner Gary Lawless disagreed quite vehemently on what Wheeler was trying to say.
Wheeler was being candid and I think even Lawless would have to agree that his take was refreshing despite what may be a deflection back onto the media. Therein lies the difference between Winnipeg, Canadian markets and many other locations of the NHL; everyone cares here and you cannot hide.
Fast forward to game time and Wheeler was a man possessed, much like he was down the stretch last season when he was arguably the Jets best player. Tonight Wheeler could be accused of trying to do too much with the puck and still 'over thinking' his play a bit. It didn't mean he wasn't playing with energy, that was there in spades and it appeared to rub off on his teammates.
The win didn't come easy for the Jets though as Pominville brought the Sabres within 1 goal with 22 seconds left in the second period. It meant the third was guaranteed to be a rodeo and it was.
Evander Kane managed to be a big part of the finish as he took a late period high sticking penalty with 3:59 left. The Jets had another successful penalty kill on the night but that was not the last the Winnipeg faithful would see from Kane.
With Miller out of the net and Buffalo pressing Slater one a face off and headed down the ice after receiving a pass to clear the Jets zone. As he raced down the right side Kane came down the middle and took the perfect pass from Slater. With the net wide open Kane ripped his shot 4 feet over the net to keep Buffalo's chances alive. That is the luck around the net with Jets these days.
Interesting enough Burmistrov, one the best Jets in the recent losing streak saw only two shifts in the third period. He had a total of 1:40 in ice time and soon Twitter started putting out APBs for his location. It was
Ken Wiebe from the Winnipeg Sun who revealed Burmi's butt had been stapled to the bench due to turnovers. Regardless of his recent play it's good to see Noel hold firm to some accountability.
It's tough being a shooter for the Jets these days, 28 shots ended up on net, 19 were blocked, 12 missed the net and 15 were attempts that were blocked. It just adds up to the team's rather dismal 8.7% shooting percentage. It also adds up the the teams equally dismal 899 PDO. However, I just saw Cam Charron's chart on team PDO and I'm not sure how I get a different number. You can look at it
HERE. It's 980
Regardless it needs to go up and there are only two ways to do that score more goals or stop more goals. Seems to me it's more likely that the Shooting percentage goes up sooner than the save percentage.
That's not to say that Pavelec didn't have a strong game, he did, but he has to have five strong ones on this road trip.
In the end it's the Sabres who came out with more questions than answers as they are now tied with the Jets for points at 13. Positive vibes are a good thing and if the post game tweets form various Jets were any sign, there's a few going around the team right now.
Last year after 15 games the Jets sat with 13th points and 12th in the eastern conference. Today there are now 11th with 13th points so they have improved over last year, even if by just a little bit.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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