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The 2nd line and Jets lose 7-3 to Oilers

September 21, 2018, 2:13 PM ET [28 Comments]
Peter Tessier
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Let's get this out of the way- last night's game is no indication on the Jets or the Oilers for that matter. Neither team looked particularly fantastic although I'm sure Oilers faithful will be rather flush with praise for Rattie. But hey it's pre-season the best time of year in Edmonton because their hopes are not dashed like they usually are by the end of October.

For the Jets it was what most hoped and expected to see with the uncanny ability the TLC line dominating in the way they did last season. Lowry had a goal as did Copp and they were as dangerous as people remember them from last season.

The first sighting of Trouba and Morrissey happened and both of them played the most 5 vs 5 minutes and took on the tough competition that Edmonton iced. A noble cause given the support they received from the rest of the roster and goaltending.

Have we learned anything?

Yes, it's unlikely many of the prospects are making enough impact to crack this roster aside from a select few. Kristian Vesalainen is probably one of them though and despite getting lit up on the possession charts as many did he's showing a lot of poise on the defensive side of the game and that's probably something Paul Maurice and his coaches are noticing.

The other player making an impact is Marko Dano and it would surprise me if he's not on the team come opening night and maybe not even in the press box. Dano might have turned the corner in his career if this is the drive and commitment he's showing as that would seem to be what the few teams he's played for have been looking for with some consistency.


The 2nd line

The Jets have a talent laden second line with with Ehlers Little and Laine but something with them does not work the way many would hope.

At 5 vs 5 Ehlers Little and Laine had 340 minutes together last season this is what they did in that time

Goals For 13
Goals Against 16
Corsi % 49.76
xGF% 48.13
PDO 98.33

When Paul Stastny arrived he slotted in between the two young wingers and this is what happened in 211 minutes

Goals For 16
Goals against 7
Corsi % 51.97
xGF% 49.81
PDO 107.52

Something is up there so let's look a bit closer. The differences are these:

ELL- 90.59 Save % 7.74 Sh %
ESL- 94.62 Save % and 12.9 Sh %

Something different happened with Statsny with those two and the results are astounding. Now what I have not done is looked at the goaltending on a game by game basis and their minutes- I do have a life. There may be something there.

It's hard to isolate Stastny's numbers for the Jets when looking at On Ice stuff so I took a lot at the team as pre and post- Stastny. For CF% they were 51% before Stastny and after they moved to 53.3% which is a significant jump consider the games left after the trade deadline. First we don't need to emphasize how much Paul Stastny had an effect- it was good. What has to happen now is figure out how to get that same production out of Ehlers and Laine without him.

Bryan Little had a bit of tough year last year. He played a full 82 games but never really found his stride as he had in the past. The concern is that in the previous two season of 57 and 59 games played he had basically the same point production and last year with better line mates. Now entering the first year of a six year deal is the decline about to begin?

This is the question that needs answering because if he is declining how long can the Jets go with him between two of their most dynamic players? Does Jack Roslovic get a look between them at some point and if that is a point- where is it on the schedule?

Certainly Paul Maurice will give the trio the time to work through some things and find their groove, if it is there. But what if it isn't when should change happen? What should that change be?

One thing to consider is swapping Little and Roslovic but is there another option? Could flipping Wheeler and Laine be an idea? The combination of Ehlers Little and Laine never existed for more than 50 minutes of ice time at 5 vs 5 last season. Neither did the combo of Connor Scheifele and Laine so is this a no fly zone type of thing or something never thought of?

One combo that did see some time was Perreault Little and Laine for 66 minutes of 5 vs 5 in that time they had a 53.62% Corsi and had 5 goals and 1 against and their xGF% was 63.51. The counter to that line would be Ehlers Roslovic and Dano? That too seems intriguing.

On paper there are no firm answers but what has to be understood is that the Jets have become accustomed to that second producing and it might not if it reverts back to before Stastny arrived. I don't expect much to change in terms of results but I also expect Paul Maurice to be patient with it until he can afford not to be.

Connor Scheitle Wheeler
Perreault Little Laine
Ehler Roslovic Dano
Lowry Copp Tanev

WE can dream right?
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