The Good Bad and the Ugly
The good here, is the Jets in regulation time, not including empty net goals, have held 2 great teams, the Oilers, and Vegas, to allowing only 2 goals against, in regulation time. That should always be good enough to win with. now that's good.
The Bad - the Jets have not got any production from their scorers. Where are you Sheifele, Ehlers, Conner, Mono and Morrisey when the chips are on the table ?? Just no " killer instinct". With the type of scorers we have, this should not be a problem, but it's a big one, and the Jets, cannot seem to come up with "clutch goals" from key players, when the game is on the line. Reminds me of past Jets teams.
The Ugly - when you have 5 powerplay chances, and that's like 10 minutes, or "half a full period", and you don't score, this starts to get ugly, and has to be fixed. We have to have our clutch players come through. Why are they not using Ehlers on the point on Powerplay # 1 ? He has one of the best and most accurate shots ?? There needs to be some answers here Bowness.
The answers -- usually the above mentioned, means a lack of confidence, and confidence is usually passed down from the Coach to the players. Maybe Bowness does not have what it takes, to instill confidence, and leadership in the minds of this hockey club ?? It's looking this way, and he maybe should go, at the end of this season.? I'm not sure, but in critical games, toward the end of the year, the Jets seem to revert back to the "old Jets" of the past, and that's starting to die toward the end of the season. They can't seem to handle the pressure and this comes from coaching, and this comes from a lack of confidence, that is transferred from the Coach to the players. I believe the talent is here on paper, but this confidence problem persists.
1) The answer - I'm not quite sure, but maybe replace Bowness at the end of the season if this continues - and "not" with Arneil, who doesn't inspire any confidence in me whatsoever.
2) Bring in a guy that has a good reputation for getting the powerplay going, that can instill some confidence in these players, and get them scoring.
3) Use Ehlers on power play # 1 and I'm sure we'll get better results.
4) Have a sports psychologist talk to players like Morrissey who should be scoring from the back end, like he did last year. He has the talent and a good shot, but he lacks confidence.
5) The team played great with Connor out, and had a great record, so why not move Ehlers to the top line, and see what happens ? Bowness has got to shake things up, and get this problem fixed.
6) Go with our youth, like Nashville did, and insert McGoarty, Lambert, and Chibrikov on one line, and wee what they can do. Call it the kid line.
7) Lastly, make a big trade, which is risky, and trade off a guy like Connor, for a more gritty 2 way player, who can also score.
I'm sure that those reading this will all have their opinions, but in my opinion, it always comes from the top down, and that's the Coach, and it maybe time for Bowness to go. Edmonton kept switching Coaches, got rid of Jay Woodcroft, and went on a huge winning streak. When McDavid and others were interviewed about their record loss streak, he replied -- "lack of confidence" I like Bowness's system, and I like the play structure, of defensive Hockey, but there is a crucial piece missing -- and right now it's "confidence".