I was at the game last night more for fun that observation and when in attendance at games I find it harder to take in what's going on around the ice due to it not being as easy to see the game. The PVR is an analyst's best friend.

The Jets and Flames played a relatively 'meh' game. There were chances and some decent recoveries for the Jets and Flames and Connor Hellebuyck played one of his best games in some time. However the trend of being out-shot, out-shot attempted, surrendering more scoring chances and basically being outplayed happened yet again. That being said Calgary is the best in the West and being outplayed happened for good reason- the Flames are a good team.

The Jets defensive zone coverage is being exploited by team now far to easily and frequently. There seems to be a red carpet towards the net right through the slot and last night was a prime example.

One thing that seems to happen to Winnipeg is that when the Jets have the puck in the offensive zone they are pressured on the points quickly- very fast last night. However the Jets tend to collapse and allow more time and room for opposition in whatever system they use- a hybrid zone as some have explained.

Let's talk about shots. The Jets pass up just as many opportunities as they take some nights, or at least it sure feels that way. Whether that's accurate last night had a few examples of times where the shot was there but the pass was made in hopes of a better shot. *Cough Scheifele cough*

Here's a theory. The Jets have a strategy to look for a preferred shot or scoring opportunity given their skill and given past comments from Maurice and players that strategy is still employed. Now take away the option for those more preferred scoring opps what happens to the others? Well there aren't any and that's why when you see goals like Perreault's on the PP or some from the Boston or San Jose game it seems odd because they have that greasy feel. Dirty goals.

So the theory goes like this- because the Jets prefer to create prime scoring opportunities they reduce their shot attempt volume to increase the conversion chance on the shots they do take. I like the adage that quantity leads to quality and if you are shooting enough you will find other opportunities to score that were never going to become available if the shot was not taken.

To further this idea one stat the Jets track is puck recovery on dump-ins and shot attempts- Perreault was a leader for years and they worked at being good at recovering pucks. Again it's hard to recover something you don't relinquish enough so is this a tactical issue affecting the bigger picture?

Last night's game was not a downer by any means in fact it was a great win but the realist has to chime in and recall that Calgary played less than 22 hours earlier and was on the road. Winnipeg had a day off and should have ran the Flames into the ground but it was really the other way.

It's all good though, they are still tops in the Central, 2 games in hand and a road trip to see LA, Anaheim and Vegas before Nashville at home to finish up a week long home stand before the final trip of the season. Lots of important games and given the murderer's row of opposition the Jets have faced in March- Nashville, Columbus Tampa Bay, Carolina, Washington, San Jose, Boston and Calgary, they went 5-3. Not bad so it's not all doom and gloom.

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