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Listless Jets fall to Wild, again.

January 11, 2019, 8:44 AM ET [50 Comments]
Peter Tessier
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • RSSArchiveCONTACT
So the Wild won another game seven against the Jets last night. Well not really but that's how they played and celebrated after their three goals giving them a 3-2 win over Winnipeg. The Jets were not playing like it was game 7 and in fact were playing like they would rather have been anywhere else.

The Wild controlled the Jets in front Dubnyk and they also controlled too much play in front of Hellebuyck and after the breakaway goal by Zucker the general eye-test of the team was becoming hard for many.

Lets operate and in the world of cliches and a 'watch the game' mindset. Did the Jets match the tenacity of the Wild? When a Jets player had the puck or was waiting to get the puck they had almost no room and once with possession they had almost no room to do much.

In the end the Jets managed to score two, one from Tanev and one from Scheifele with the goalie pulled, to make it interesting with 2:30 left but that was it. Too little too late. The 2nd line was almost invisible again and the Wild seemed to find the all the seems and positioning they wanted.

Now what should be concerning is not the level or effort of pushback from the Jets but where was the coaching staff getting the team to do adjustments to counter the Wild and then the trap once they were up 3-0? This aspect of the player-coach relationship is where many fans struggle as is this not a situation with two key players injured, and Myers leaving the game, where they need some tactical support to defeat the system employed by the opposition.

Give credit to the Wild though, they played the better game, skated with a purpose and executed well. In comparison the Wild had one forward, Koivu, who was over 20 mins of ice time at 22:07 while the Jets had three, Scheifele 26:34, Wheeler 25:34 and Connor 24:52. How much longer can Maurice ride those two and whoever plays along them? Also consider that the Jets have not played as many games as most NHL teams and they have a very busy February and March coming up.

A loss like that doesn't sting too much when you look at the final score but when you see how it all unfolded a person is going to hope there's not some underlying concerns that have been masked most of the season and are finally coming out. Hopefully that's not what's happening.
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