Post-Game Talk: Jets 4- Preds 3 in OT

[bustamente]

Yes the Preds have come down to earth in the past week or so but I think people are forgetting that they were the hottest team for the past month and a half. They are a tough out and yes the Jets looked disorganized in the second and most of the third but maybe that had to do more with what the Predators were doing and less what the Jets were trying to accomplish. If they can get back to being that team with the massive point streak they will be a tough out.

 

[Adam da bomb]

I completely understand that line of thinking, however, I saw the effort with Kyle last night, and the problem with scratching an elite scorer like Connor is you're basically handicapping yourself. He can have a poor game and still score an important goal any time he's on the ice, kind of like what he did last night.

Hockey history is littered with elite scorers like this that frustrate the hell out of you with their play but always find a way to put the puck in the net.

I don’t mean last night I mean when he had an awful game. Even Matthews and the 1st pp was kept off the ice for a pp when the coach wanted to send a message.

And when it comes to goal scorers Matthews has most beat,

 

[Channelcat]

Jets managed to win on the strength of skill and goaltending and not much else as NSH abused us all over the ice. I'm not sure we have the size to play that game with Dal, Nsh, Vgk, etc.......as for the whipping boys, Pionk got worked over all night and made plenty of errors, but his contributions go unnoticed(by fans,not coaches) KFC is actually playing well right now, and looks fairly engaged. 55 looked disinterested last night, hopefully this is a short term funk.

In short, we were physically dominated all night and it showed up on in possession and shots. I don't know how we fix that.

 

[surixon]

I don’t mean last night I mean when he had an awful game. Even Matthews and the 1st pp was kept off the ice for a pp when the coach wanted to send a message.

And when it comes to goal scorers Matthews has most beat,

Yup. This org seems to be incredibly gun shy about holding its core guys accountable. This has gone on for a long time now and imo was a big reason for many of the lockerroom issues that persisted from 2019 until Bones arrived. I guess the good thing is Bones won't be here long enough for the same splintering to occur under him and this won't make a difference this year.

 

[DRW204]

lots of comments on Pionk again. honestly he's been brutal the last few months. can miss me with the talk about benching, scratches, accountability etc for other similarly depth-charted players while the team just continuously glosses over his level of play.

 

[TheDeuce]

It was, to me at least, almost insinuating it was above his head. As oppose to him caving to locker room dynamics. How I interpreted it anyway.

Yep, that's how I interpreted it. But where above his head? Chevy? Ownership? And to what end? I just don't get it.


m.

 

[Blue Shakehead]

Refs were infuriating, calling minor or entirely made-up penalties that have no impact on the play while simultaneously putting their whistles away for blatant calls that either caused or eliminated scoring chances. This was a huge benefit to Nashville.

Hellebuyck, Morrissey and 4th line were excellent

Pionk is a cartoon out there and has been all season. He should be our #8D at this point.

I'm happy to take the win and would be ecstatic if we could Brian Skrudland our way into a Cup like Les '93 Canadiens on the back of all-world goaltending, but would much prefer if we just won by being good.

 

[Gm0ney]

My take
Jets really had a terrific first period. We made Saros and Nashville look quite ordinary.
Did Ehlers make both bad giveaways on the same shift? Seemed like it.
Still think he's a terrific player and person as I wear his name on the back of my jersey.

I don't quite get the negative comments about Pionk and the rest of the Jets team today.
Didn't he set up the winning goal by taking out physically one of the Nashville players? Isn't he one of the few NHL players with 100+ hits and 100+ blocks?

Watching a picture of Kyle and Hellebuyck after the game, they sure seemed happy to have won the game.

I understand the idea of debate and criticism, but some posts take it too far.

Support your Winnipeg Jets, your city, and enjoy the playoffs.

To paraphrase whoever first said it: Blocking shots is like killing rats...it's better than not killing them but where the f*** are all these rats coming from? Oh they're coming from Pionk...he's got a huge bag of rats he involuntarily dumps on the ice all the time.

And when Pionk is bad, he's really bad...he's been dead last in game score in 4 of the last 6 games. He's been bottom 3 in game score in 23 games this year. Here's last night:

 

[Gm0ney]

The strange thing is that Perfetti's line had a massive corsi advantage compared to all the other lines... so Im not sure he 'earned' it anymore than say Toffoli or Ehlers...

Bones post-game view of the line blender was pretty strange - he was happy with it except it sure seemed to accelerate the collapse rather than stem it - it was 3-1 when we reunited CSV

6 straight losses before Bones finally tries Ehlers on the top line. 2 bad periods in a game the Jets are leading and it's line blender time. Meanwhile Pionk is a one-man Keystone Kops show and he gets the 3rd most ice time?

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I'll take the 2 points, but if that is what the Jets bring to the PO it will be over in 4 regardless of who the opponent is.

 

[WaveRaven]

Yep, that's how I interpreted it. But where above his head? Chevy? Ownership? And to what end? I just don't get it.


m.

I believe that the players have say with management and the coach is told to keep them happy. Can you imagine the promises they made to 55 to stay.

I bet this every team to some degree I just think we give the players more say than most.

 

[gojetsgo]

yes, bones who was close to retiring, is in what may be his final year, who had already stripped the captaincy from wheeler last year, who already left this season because he had to take care of his sick wife, came back to not have full control of his roster decisions... I wish people would stop running with made up conspiracy theories...

 

[Gm0ney]

yes, bones who was close to retiring, is in what may be his final year, who had already stripped the captaincy from wheeler last year, who already left this season because he had to take care of his sick wife, came back to not have full control of his roster decisions... I wish people would stop running with made up conspiracy theories...

Jussi Saros / George Soros

Coincidence...?

 

[Channelcat]

lots of comments on Pionk again. honestly he's been brutal the last few months. can miss me with the talk about benching, scratches, accountability etc for other similarly depth-charted players while the team just continuously glosses over his level of play.

I'd like to see him settle down a bit. Sounds counter intuitive, but it looks like he needs to slow his game and play more cerebral (like Demelo) be sure of your outlet passes, cover your man (without running all over the place). Basically don't be a shitshow.

 

[WolfHouse]

yes, bones who was close to retiring, is in what may be his final year, who had already stripped the captaincy from wheeler last year, who already left this season because he had to take care of his sick wife, came back to not have full control of his roster decisions... I wish people would stop running with made up conspiracy theories...

I'd say it's a bit naive to think star players don't have pull within the organization or perhaps a direct line to ownership - look how Keefe had to step back his criticism last year(?) - same with bones actually

 

[JetsWillFly4Ever]

One of the worst games we have played all season.

Say thanks to Helle and burn the tape.

Typical HF to blame the whipping boys when basically everyone except Helelbuyck, Morrissey and the 4th line were complete ass.

 

[gojetsgo]

I'd say it's a bit naive to think star players don't have pull within the organization or perhaps a direct line to ownership - look how Keefe had to step back his criticism last year(?) - same with bones actually

there is pull and then there is "the coaches hands are tied and the decisions are out of his control", highly doubt bones comes back if the lineup decisions aren't his...

 

[DRW204]

I'd like to see him settle down a bit. Sounds counter intuitive, but it looks like he needs to slow his game and play more cerebral (like Demelo) be sure of your outlet passes, cover your man (without running all over the place). Basically don't be a shitshow.

idk what it is and i didn't catch the game until the 3rd last night. however, it seems like we're saying "that's the worst game Pionk has played all season" almost every week

 

[surixon]

The strange thing is that Perfetti's line had a massive corsi advantage compared to all the other lines... so Im not sure he 'earned' it anymore than say Toffoli or Ehlers...

Bones post-game view of the line blender was pretty strange - he was happy with it except it sure seemed to accelerate the collapse rather than stem it - it was 3-1 when we reunited CSV

Yeah I thought Cole was solid and his line was one of the few bright spots through 2. But the line change seemed to disrupt things and he missed an assignment on one of the Preds goals. He was hardly the only one though and he's really the low hanging fruit when it comes to message sending.

I'm honestly not sure what to make of Bones and some of his in game decisions lately. You gotta wonder how much of it is to get Scheifele back engaged. He seems to have been moping since KC was taken off his line.

I also believe there is definitely things at play behind the scenes. Clearly our core guys have a big say in things. It's why you always see things go back to the default with our top line, Helle playing as many games as he does, our PP never changing etc. As mentioned I'm sure this happens to some extent in every org, but it seems more extreme here.

 

[Flair Hay]

Yep, that's how I interpreted it. But where above his head? Chevy? Ownership? And to what end? I just don't get it.


m.

Yeah there wasn't a lot of follow up, but it certainly came off as oddly specific and vague assumption as oppose to an educated guess. Hard to know for sure, but that was my impression.

 

[Jets 31]

I skipped last night as well as the spring gave out on the garage door, so was otherwise occupied. I may have to banish myself. Although given how poorly they played the last 40 minutes, maybe I should show up for that.

The spring broke on my garage door last week.

 

[macmaroon]

Bones said he liked how his lines looked in the third period

Don’t shoot the messenger

So did I, I was asleep...

 

[Gm0ney]

One of the worst games we have played all season.

Say thanks to Helle and burn the tape.

Typical HF to blame the whipping boys when basically everyone except Helelbuyck, Morrissey and the 4th line were complete ass.

Really the coaches had no answers for the aggressive Nashville forecheck and pressure all over the ice. And there was a lot of sloppy play that contributed to the Jets woes...but the pressure really forced a lot of the sloppiness. Like Ehlers giveaway that led to the 1st Nashville goal - he wasn't expecting that guy to step up (players usually back off when he's wheeling through the neutral zone) and chaos ensued. Whatever adjustments they made between periods seemed to make things worse somehow.

 

[JetsUK]

I'd like to see him settle down a bit. Sounds counter intuitive, but it looks like he needs to slow his game and play more cerebral (like Demelo) be sure of your outlet passes, cover your man (without running all over the place). Basically don't be a shitshow.

Agree -- but at this point I wonder if Pionk has that cerebral game in him.

When he's playing fluently he can be a very useful asset -- quick, pesty and hard to play against.

At his worst, he's chaos. He should have been benched last night and should sit for a game or two to recalibrate. They paid for Miller -- use him.

Bones must see what we're seeing with Pionk. I have no idea why he not only leaves in there but plays him so intensively.

 

[jetsfan15]

The little things can end up making a big difference in a playoff series.

Hard enough for a coach to make effective adjustments on the fly and consistently make the right ones.

I think it's key not to make any self inflicted mistakes. Hopefully when it comes to playoff time the 81-55 and Pionk issues we have discussed over and over don't end up being that.

I don't want to pretend that they *will* come back to haunt us no matter what, or that they will even happen at all. They are absolutely reasons for concern though.

I guess. Does anyone honestly think that Game 1 against Colorado won’t be 81-55-13 at puck drop? I would be shocked if it isn’t. I also would be surprised if 91 is on the second line. I also would be surprised if Pionk is in the press box.

In the playoffs, you will lose some games. But can we maximize our chances to win by rostering the most optimal roster every period, knowing that there will be bad periods? We shall see. Maybe they start 81 on top line for some games, and 27 for other games, but statistically that can hurt if it means one extra loss in a series at the end.

You never know when a line might break out of a funk. Next shift? Next period? Next game? Colorado will have bad periods (and have had and will have bad games) too. Do they break up McKinnon’s line when that line has a bad period or a bad game?

One thing I’ll say: maybe Colorado outplays us 4 times and we outplay them 3 times, but helly steals one which makes it a 4-3 series win for the jets. That’s likely oversimplifying things, as there are many variables in each game and series, but the avs’ goalie isn’t good and ours is phenomenal. That will make a difference. I think sometimes we are fooled by the 5-1 score of that Game 7 back in 2018 in Nashville. Jets were badly outshot that game. Preds’ goalie was terrible that game while Helly stood on his head, the score was more lopsided than one would think.