The game was going as many have seen before, the Jets finding ways to score but barely holding on to a lead and then allowing the game to get tied. At the same time they were allowing their goalie to be barraged with shots. It's all to reminiscent of bad feelings and problems that have plagued this team for some time. However the story finished a bit differently.

The Jets won the game. In regulation.

Not that the above is some sort of spoiler it's how this all went down and how one saw it unfold. An optimist saw the Jets sort of put their offensive dominance in play and push the play at the Jackets and have some good chances too. That same optimist also saw a very calm and controlled Hellebuyck make save after save down the final 7 minutes to keep his team in it. Furthermore the optimist saw Beaulieu make a great play to get the puck up to Laine who served some backhand sauce across the ice to Wheeler for his third goal of the game. Hell, the optimist even was feeling the good vibes Sami Niku was emitting with his strong game.

Now the pessimist has some concerns but before we go there let's ask a question did the Jets look good because the Blue Jackets are a flawed and challenged team or because they outplayed the Jackets when it mattered?

So the pessimist has some concerns about Tyler Myers and why on the PP he could not make a pass and then managed to turn the puck over with no one behind him and then take a penalty to recover from his mistake. Myers isn't the only one at fault, how often can the defense leave the front of the net open as well as the red carpet up the slot, the pessimist asks?

The pessimist noted that more often than not the Jets were breaking out with a D on the rush and often out numbered as forwards were so deep in their own end.

Yes, it was not a masterpiece even if you were Blake Wheeler scoring 4 goals. It was however not a tire fire either, just a few isolated ones in the defensive zone and only one costing a goal. The big part of that game though was goaltending as Hellebuyck stopped 40 of 42 shots. That's 12 shots too many and therein lies the achilles heel for the Jets, they cannot seem to get their shot attempts against them under control.

In fairness Columbus was a desperate team, one that needed to win given the moves they made at the trade deadline and their position in the standings. They had seen the Jets almost two weeks earlier and knew some things about them and tried to exploit them, they did it well but not well enough to score the goals needed.

For the Jets, build on this and the win over Nashville too. Also let's give Beaulieu some more time there might be some game there that with a team as talented as the Jets, could blossom. The same can be said for Sami Niku too who continues to impress.

Kulikov gets an honourable mention for dropping the gloves and getting an assist but he and Myers were troubling again after a long period of being quite a dependable pair.

Thoughts on Lindholm? I think he will gain Maurice's trust simply because he liked to bang a bit and as a sub for Lowry he did well given the situation and 9 minutes of ice time. Speaking of ice time don't look now as neither Wheeler or Scheifele were over 20 minutes again. That's a good trend. Next up is the rematch with Tampa Bay Tuesday night and another measuring stick game.

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