Big ups to Claude Broel on making necessary on the fly changes to keep the Jets in this game and eventually take it. Like TSN said, Dusty Buffs was the man tonight. I hereby award him tonight's title of "Dikembe MutomBro"
Antropov- Quietly played another solid game. His skillset on the penalty kill is one to be admired, he doesn't make a lot of noise with his plays (maybe why he gets ragged on so much) but Antro is an extremely valuable piece to this team. Already stated how well he's doing on the PK with Burmi, but even little things like sitting in front of Vokoun tonight which provided the screen for Byfuglien's 2nd period goal. Try focusing on him for a few periods and you'll get a real appreciation for what he brings to this team.
Burmistrov- Usual Burmi tonight. Taking the body on the opposition and killing penalties like a G. I honestly think he is or can be one of the best PKers in the NHL. Not only is he good in the defensive zone, but he's also able to get some solid puck possession draining even more time off penalties. We don't get to see it very often, but he actually has a very strong wrist shot and I would like to see him use it a little more.
Byfuglien- There's not much I need to say that Ray Ferraro didn't already. Buff was very "economical" tonight, I imagine that means he was money. Just his usual self, calm in the defensive zone and able to get it out without much trouble. Then right at home on the offensive end doing his thing. He really is quite a rare breed. As my boy RomanG was quoted saying "Oh you lovely fatass!"
Clitsome- I think this may have been Clitsome's last game. He was directly responsible for majority of the defensive zone turnovers in the 1st and we all saw what happened with those turnovers. Unfortunately I think instead of evolving to Clitmore he's actually doing the rare "devolve" back to Clitnone.
Enstrom Byfuglien's rock. Buff got all the praise tonight from TSN but imo without Toby much of that goes away. He's the one who gives Buff the freedom to play the way he does. I think more of the naysayers are finally seeing just how important he is to the Jets and Buff's success. Personally I would like to see him take more shots, but you can't argue with the results he's had thus far.
Hainsey- Did his job and with all things considered did it well. His pairing was matched with Crosby's line all night (Although he wasn't on the ice for either of Crosby's goals). He blocked shots, was a rock on the PK, had some offensive opportunities and played an all around calm and collected game against the Pens best line.
Jokinen- I honestly didn't notice Olli too much tonight. He seemed to have a few offensive chances but other than that wasn't very noticeable. The line of KJW is getting much more success than LLW does so I'm perfectly fine with him starting slow given how well his wingers have been performing.
Kane- He made a few questionable plays early on but got better as the night continued. He was spoonfed a beautiful goal by Buff and Wheeler and didn't miss the opportunity. All in all another good game for Evander as he continues to open up his game, even had to take a few faceoffs as Olli got tossed a few times and managed to win them. Kid has a solid skillset and he's putting more and more of it together as time goes on.
Ladd- He does a lot of things on the ice that make me cringe, but he's also very good at being in the right place at the right time. He's not in full Ladd form yet (and I don't mean the nightly 3rd period penalty), but as long as he can be that Johnny on the spot guy scoring goals I'm ok with his game leaving more to be desired.
Little- He gift wrapped Ladd's goal tonight and was in the play on most of his shifts. I think I'm actually preferring Bryan playing the wing as he seems to be more comfortable there as a playmaker. His game is rounding out nicely as a solid 2way forward and only appears to be getting better.
Ponikarovsky- His offensive touch isn't the greatest, to be fair he did have about 2 or 3 legitimate chances on net and Vokoun came up big. But like others have said, the good thing about Poni is his size and ability to play the dump and chase. Almost every time he was on the ice and the puck was dumped he was the first guy to it creating the sustained pressure in the offensive zone. A guy like him just makes the team bigger and tougher to play against which seems to be paying dividends in the Jets wins this year.
Postma- I actually think he's gotten better each game. He's got a smart offensive touch, almost Toby-like as he is very often finding the seams and getting it to the net. I have no doubt he'll get his first goal soon with how he's playing and I also think his confidence is rising in the defensive zone as he is appearing more and more comfortable each day. I look forward to him and Stuart on the 3rd line when Bogo returns.
Slater- Slater was Slater tonight. Nothing too huge or noticeable, just brought lots of energy and was good on the PK.
Stuart- He wasn't bad, again he and Hainsey were paired against the Crosby line which is more than Stu is able to handle. I thought he was a little too lax on Crosby's backhander as he was allowed to just walk right in and take his time. Not the greatest night for Stu, but again he is playing minutes and situations that are above his level.
Thorburn- I like his energy on the forecheck, he created a few turnovers in the offensive zone and had 1 or 2 opportunities for his line in the 1st period. The subsequent periods were about the same, he was good on the PK as they continue to boast solid numbers being a man down. So for now I'm happy.
Wellwood- Honestly saw not much of anything from him tonight. He looked slow and wasn't into the game very much, not sure what he brought to the table that Scheifele couldn't but it was only 1 game and we know he's better than what was shown tonight.
Wheeler- Finding his game more and more with every shift. He and Buff worked some magic to give Kane his goal tonight. He still has weird issues with his balance, he's got some serious Wheels but has trouble staying on his feet. Regardless, I'll take 1g 1a from Blake any night.
Wright- Quiet tonight. Was much more noticeable in the Capitals game but that could be attributed to only playing 7 minutes. I'll reserve any real judgement on him as it's only been his 2nd game.
Pavelec- The 1st GA was a little strange, not sure if it hit Olli's stick or not but that short side should've been covered a little tighter imo. After that however he was completely dialed in. I think we know what to expect from Pavs by now, he's very capable of giving up a softy or 2 but he's also capable of making game saving stops and tonight we saw that. The 2nd period alone could've thrown the game wide open for Pittsburgh and Pavs was able to keep it close so the Jets could add the 3 goals. Shaky 1st, solid the rest of the way.
BTW, I didn't proofread this so if there's grammatical mistakes, keep it to yourself.
