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Laine is the daddy in game 1 of Global Series

November 2, 2018, 1:55 PM ET [27 Comments]
Peter Tessier
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • RSSArchiveCONTACT
So after the Hatrick Laine performance is there anything left to prove? Hell yes there is and it has to be around even strength scoring. That's 5 vs 5 and the Jets are terrible at it. They rank 5th (19GF) worst in the league with Vegas, LA, Detroit and Buffalo being worse, and not by much.

This team is a PP powerhouse being third in the league behind Washington and just ahead of Toronto but that's not what made them such a strong team last season where they finished 7th overall in the league with 194 5 vs 5 goals. If the Jets are going to keep being successful as a team and live up to the rather lofty expectations bestowed upon them then something has to change.

Ehlers Little and Laine have just 3 5vs5 goals

Connor Scheifele Wheelers have just 2 5vs5 goals

Lowry Copp and Tanev have just 3 5vs5 goals

Perreault Roslovic Lemieux just 1 5vs5 goal

The forward lines as the have been designed and employed have only 9 of the 19 goals the Jets have scored at 5vs5. That's not good enough, not even close and to make matters worse the Jets are also being outscored at 5vs5 as well.

This is the challenge that faces Paul Maurice and to some degree Kevin Cheveldayoff, as he tinkers with roster dynamics is to figure out tactics to improve the 5vs5 results. The first attempt was this shift in the lines to try to find different combinations for success. Today Nic Petan draws in for the his first game of the season and his role will certainly be measured for chemistry too.

Take this any way you like but the Jets are not as dynamic as they were last season. That's not breaking news but they hover in the 'unlucky/bad' zone by some measurements or sit near the middle between good, bad, dull and fun- they simply are bland aside from the PP.

Pick your metric and the Jets are not where they should be as a top team and it's almost baffling they are where they are given their play. Good specials teams can be just as powerful a drug as goaltending and that's what the Jets are on right now. It's time to titrate and move to the sustainable part- 5vs5 play.

Today should be interesting as it's the second game of back-to-backs and the Panthers were no so much embarrassed but put down. The crowd went wild for Laine and he got the hat trick on them to rub a little salt in the wounds that is a woeful season. Puck drop is soon and perhaps as yesterday's piece suggested the reset moment for the Jets has come- but we still need to see if that happened on the ice, yesterday was good but to be better the Jets have to score at regular strength and keep the puck out their net too. Once that starts happening this team could be scary good- but when does that start happening?
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