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3rd Period comeback gives Jets big 2 points

December 3, 2018, 9:58 AM ET [24 Comments]
Peter Tessier
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • RSSArchiveCONTACT
The game in NYC at the legendary Madison Square Garden last night always has a buzz, it's NYC and the Jets came in after a crazy finish to earn the extra point in OT the night before in New Jersey. While the game the night before could be seen a saving victory from the jaws of defeat, a blown 3-1 lead late in the game will do that, last night was different. Last night the Jets exhibited something rarely seen this season- a dominant third period that gave them a chance to win the game.

Claiming a just victory from a goalie trying to pull off a heist.

Before the good, consider the not so good (it wasn't bad). Connor Hellebuyck, gave up 3 goals on 19 shots over 65 minutes of game time but were any really his fault? The opening goal was a great pass from Zibanejad to Fast who seemed to find the only place he could be in front of the net and between the Jets players. Not the best back check but what was Hellebuyck to do there?

The second goal was another oddity where maybe Hellebuyck could have made the save but he was caught due to what his mates in front of him had done, or rather not done. Morrissey makes the assumption that Connor will play the puck and get it out, or at least prevent it from going to a wide open Staal. It gets there and now the Jets are caught. Hellebuyck seems square and perhaps he drops a bit faster than normal but Staal puts a bullet over the blocker and it's 2-0. Again, is it Hellebuyck's fault, can blame all be laid on him?

Finally, the goal that made it 3-0 for the Rangers and what appeared to be final nail in the coffin was virtually an unstoppable deflection by Kreider. The puck is not on net, Hellebuyck sees it and tracks it all the way but Kreider plays it perfectly and the Rangers leave the second period with a 3-0 after that power play goal.

The Jets had three power play opportunities to that point with few scoring chances and this against a team that rarely takes penalties. Then the third period happened, and the team that Jets fans had been wanting to see arrived.

With an early power play Mark Scheifele scored to make it 3-1 on his nearly patented quick release from the mid slot on another pass from Blake Wheeler. Interesting stat if you did not see it last night- Blake Wheeler is the first US born player to have 30 assists in his first 26 games.

Soon after, 2:26 later, the fourth line (more on them later) struck with Jack Roslovic launching a fierce wrist shot as Mason Appleton set the screen in front of Lundqvist. Now the run was on and the Jets never let up. The Jets had been dominating shot share most of the game but amped it up even more. Testing Lunqvist on multiple occasions launching 20 attempts and 10 on net. They had 10 scoring chances for and 4 high danger chances. They threw everything at him and more. It was just like old times.

Eventually they were rewarded as Ehlers (back with Little and Laine) skated in and fired one that Lundqvist could not contain. That's a key point as he kept it low as for most others in the period and game Lundqvist was able to hold and draw a whistle on. This one he had to kick out and Bryan Little was there, streaking toward the net to bury the rebound. Tie-game.

Overtime solved nothing despite the Jets outshooting the Rangers 8-2 in that five minute span but and the Jets prevailed in a shootout as Scheifele earned the winner.

The 4th Line

Everyone knows I've been critical of it, and the team. Last night was a bit more like what everyone has come to expect from the Jets with depth and play. They were dominant in their limited ice time scoring again and making an positive impact. It's long been known that Brendan Lemieux has been a drag on any combination that plays there and Mason Appleton is doing enough for the eye test. Scott Billeck put it into number last night with this tweet:




Now to take another look at numbers with a picture Garret Hohl had this tweet:




The point should be obvious- Brendan Lemieux has had enough chances to prove himself as a legitimate player on that line and it does not work. Often there are cries for consistency and more from Maurice and this situation should be no different, if Petan and Dano have been judged and sentenced by Maurice should Lemieux be too? It would certainly seem there is more than enough evidence to suggest there's no need to change that unit right now. Given the way Paul Maurice has some trust issues around his role players, he needs to learn to trust this trio and support it to grow.

The Jets goaltending is not great right now and last night I floated out a theory. What if Hellebuyck is still in his adjustment phase to the new gear which is smaller and lighter. Earlier in the season there was some conversation with him that talked about some bruising and difference of feeling with it and that this was being noticed by a few goalies around league. Hellebuyck may now be the weak link in a team that is slowly turning the corner and becoming what everyone expected them to be- an effective team top to bottom through four lines- now what about the defense?

Sami Niku was rather critical of himself after the game last night and that's part of the learning curve he will go through. He deserves criticism like any other player but what he needs is support and some coaching to help him understand where he needs to make changes. By now, after three games of making the same kind of mistakes along the boards, he has to try to read that situation better to avoid leaving himself one option.

Niku is but one player on the defense and with Josh Morrissey carrying over 28 minutes of ice time for the third straight game Maurice is hoping for support as he leans on him, Trouba and Myers to shoulder the load. It's easy to forget that Byfuglien is out as is Morrow and Kulikov that's 3 starters and one is a top pairing guy on half the teams in the league. There are going to be challenges and last night was an example where the challenges resulted in goals rather than saves- it was a far better effort and results than in previous games.

The Jets are not playing their best hockey, but it's starting to come through, albeit slowly. Getting healthy on the blue line could be a huge boost but also getting in Hellebuyck's head right might be even more important- the Jets are third in the West just 3 points behind Nashville with one game less played and doing it with .902 goaltending from a Vezina finalist last year. The two teams ahead of the Jets have .930 and .934 save percentages from their starters. Get Hellebuyck back into form and this team becomes scary and those were the words out of New York last night as coach and goalie heaped praise on the Jets in their post game comments.

Onto Brooklyn and looking for a sweep of the three game road trip.
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