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Jets lose and Trade Updates |
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First period- check
Second period- what the heck?
Third period- ugh
That was sort of how the Jets game when last night and the turning point may have been what John Stevens, the coach of the LA Kings, said to his team during the first intermission. What changed in the second after the Kyle Connor penalty in the first 15 seconds was dramatic and by the end of the period the Kings and Jets were equal in shots.
To the casual observer and interestingly Paul Maurice it was simply a matter of which team was skating but the change was more significant than that, the Kings had made a tactical switch. While the Jets could enter the zone with ease in the first period, as well as leave theirs with ease it appeared they had their skating legs but come the second period those legs were gone. In reality the Kings started playing with two men deep on the forecheck and then loading up the front end of the neutral zone.
The Jets could not counter with their play and had trouble getting out of their zone and even moving the puck through the neutral zone. It was an excellent read by Stevens and his staff and something many keen Jets observers noted as well has how Maurice countered. He didn't really.
What it resulted in was the Kings taking the lead before the Jets tied the game on a pinball deflection from a Byfuglein shot. In the third period the Jets established some space but eventually hurt themselves with penalties and some poor coverage and LA managed to get a 4-2 lead with just over 4 minutes remaining in the game. A late PP goal from Laine- his 16th PP goal and 27th on the year brought the score closer but it was all the team could muster.
Petan Byfuglien and Connor all took some careless penalties and Maurice spoke about them in particular Petan's. One has to wonder about Petan's future with the club given his usage and penchant for preventable penalties, that's not to mention the depth around him that seems to have passed him by but more on that later.
The other challenge last night was the Kings made some very easy work of the Kulikov Chiarot pairing. They were constantly being hamstrung in their own end and the normally quiet yet dependable Kulikov made some near-terrible reads in all areas of the ice last night. The same could be said for Ehlers and Laine too though. The former had a very soft clearing attempt held in that lead to the 3rd goal for LA. Kulikov and Chiarot were also responsible for poor reads at the end of the PP when Dustin Brown was left in front for score the insurance goal.
Again this game is not a calamity as much as it was disappointing for all the wrong reasons- it simply was a preventable loss.
More and more reports from the various insiders are starting to seep out as we inch towards the trade deadline. It appears that Winnipeg is talking to the Rangers about Rick Nash and that they have inquired on other players most notably Hoffman. The latter appears to have Winnipeg on his 'no-fly list', teams he will not accept a trade to.
The point here is that Chevy is trying, or at least inquiring and given the status of the team can anyone argue that a player of Nash's ability, still a 20 goal scorer and two-way player, would not have a positive trickle down effect on the bottom six forwards? Matt Hendricks, an all heart guy, who has a value to both the coach and his team mates struggles to keep up now even in his limited role and minutes. His reads are slower as are his feet.
Adding a player that can boost the depth down the middle or anywhere on that line would be a good thing and given Petan's situation with the organization it would seem he would be the odd guy out, either as part of a trade or reassigned. Kevin Cheveldayoff admitted to Pierre Lebrun that he has assets to move and would do so if a deal made sense and given the state of the team last night perhaps Chevy is seeing more reason now than before? That would be a tough question to answer based on one, one-goal game.
As for other rumours it's fairly quiet but eventually noise slips out and would Chevy even consider kicking the tires on Karlsson as it has been noted that a few teams are. If the speculation is true and that 7 pieces are required to get the deal done as well as taking Bobby Ryan's contract the Jets are likely one of a select few teams that have reason to keep talking and the ability to make the deal. Whether they should make the deal is another question but it would be fascinating to know if they have inquired.
The Jets embark on a two-game road trip in St. Louis and then Dallas the night after this Friday and Saturday before hosting Nashville next Tuesday- no pressure here at all. Stay tuned Jets fans as this should be a wild week coming up.
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • 
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