Post-Game Talk: Jets win 3-1

[AlphaLackey]

Isles fan here, coming in peace. Very impressed with the way your team handled themselves while missing so many players. On top of that, you should have been a tired team. The first two periods, the Isles were playing some of the best defensive hockey I've seen from them all year. We had our chances and your goalie was up to the task.

To answer your question about Ladd, he is on IR indefinitely. They haven't disclosed the actual injury, but a broken bone in his leg or a torn ligament wouldn't surprise me with the way he exited the ice.

Trotz has been a God send. He has taken a mediocre (not terrible) roster and turned it into a good group of competitors. What we are missing is another finisher, an elite defenseman (though some of our young guys are developing), and a top tier goalie.

Good luck the rest of the way. The Jets are the team I would like to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup finals. Love the way your team plays the game.

For sure, good luck to you too. You definitely have one of the best coaches in the league. I'd say "the best" but I'm unsure if my Toronto "bias issues" stop me from fairly evaluating Babcock

 

[Evil Little]

Isles fan here, coming in peace. Very impressed with the way your team handled themselves while missing so many players. On top of that, you should have been a tired team. The first two periods, the Isles were playing some of the best defensive hockey I've seen from them all year. We had our chances and your goalie was up to the task.

To answer your question about Ladd, he is on IR indefinitely. They haven't disclosed the actual injury, but a broken bone in his leg or a torn ligament wouldn't surprise me with the way he exited the ice.

Trotz has been a God send. He has taken a mediocre (not terrible) roster and turned it into a good group of competitors. What we are missing is another finisher, an elite defenseman (though some of our young guys are developing), and a top tier goalie.

Good luck the rest of the way. The Jets are the team I would like to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup finals. Love the way your team plays the game.

I imagine going from Capuano to Trotz in a couple short seasons is pretty refreshing. As much shit as Maurice gets, the guy before him was just as in-over-his-head as ol' bedhead.

 

[Whileee]

Quick thoughts ()....

ESW - Another really strong game by all three. I'm loving Ehlers on this line. It's almost like he has a superpower called ZEE (zone exit entry). He's also clicking in the offensive zone, and doing a better job in board battles. Scheifele and Wheeler played a solid game.

CLL - Not their best game. They weren't clicking that much, and got caught in their own zone a bit too much. Still, Laine looks like he could score on almost any shift. Little still seems to have his speed and jam, which is one of this season's underrated developments.

PLT - 3rd line keeps chugging along. Lowry is such a smart and effective player. Perreault gives them a bit of juice. Tanev was buzzing and creating havoc for the Isles' D, as usual.

LRA - I continue to be impressed by Roslovic and Appleton, even though they didn't have as much positive impact this game. Roslovic is starting to "feel it" with the puck, and Appleton continues to use his speed and decent size / reach to cut down time and space for the opposition. I know Lemieux had a horrible CF% and didn't do much, but I didn't think he did anything egregious in the game. The "hate meter" is deep into the red zone for him right now, though...

83-8 Stellar game from Trouba. Showed his #1 D credentials. Just solid in every facet, and looks like he could play all game. Niku is settling in nicely. His gap control was much better, and he made a lot of nice decisions and plays with the puck. He made a couple of ill-advised plays, but you have to know he'll clean that up, being such a smart and skilled player. I want to see more of him as the season progresses. Having him develop into a legit top-4 D would be huge for the Jets.

6-57 Myers has been slagged all season, as much by me as anyone, but I thought he had another very strong game. He was making quick decisions, using his skating to get out of trouble and smother the opposition. A very encouraging road trip from him. Schilling had a solid game. It's nice when your #10 D now is better than your #5 and #6 was a few years ago (ahem, Stuart / Harrison).

7-62 Chiarot was solid enough. He is what he is... not great with the puck, but decent at shutting down chances from dangerous areas. Nogier acquitted himself fine. Skated well, decent gap control and moved the puck quickly.

Hellebuyck with a very solid game. I'm hoping that this is the start of a turnaround for him, though I must say that I haven't been quite as concerned as many others seem to be this season. Goalies do have some ups and downs, and there is a lot of randomness to goals.

Very nice road trip... 6 points out of three buildings where the home team has racked up a lot of wins this season.

 

[Derfel]

"Decent"?

Yes - it wasn't pretty at times, but they got it done. There were some periods of bad Jets hockey.

 

[Derfel]

*flawless

No, there were flaws. Wins don't erase bad periods of hockey.

 

[Huffer]

Great game by the D fill-ins. Everyone kept it simple, and the forwards helped out as well.

 

[gadiamon72]

I imagine going from Capuano to Trotz in a couple short seasons is pretty refreshing. As much **** as Maurice gets, the guy before him was just as in-over-his-head as ol' bedhead.

Add Uncle Lou to that as well. A JT signing would have been the trifecta, but Trotz and Lou were a great consolation. I somewhat agree with one of your fans who posted on our board. We are close to where you were 2 seasons ago. We have a strong prospect pool and a Calder Cup contender in the AHL. I think by the time the new arena is built we'll be a cup contender.

 

[Tommigun]

I was most impressed with Myers, Nogier and Hellebuyck. Niku and Trouba also earned special mentions.
This bodes very well for the future, and a sweep of the metro is always nice

 

[Saidin]

No, there were flaws. Wins don't erase bad periods of hockey.

Losses and good periods of hockey sure as hell show up more at the end of the year than your comment.

 

[Gm0ney]

• It certainly wasn't an advanced game for the Jets, but despite a poor showing in the decimals for most players, they come away with another win and the numbers that do matter: 2 points in the standings.
• A slow start for the first line quickly rebounded into an even split in terms of CF%, but heavily in the red for xGF% as Ehlers sneaks away with an empty net goal and point. In what mattered the most, they controlled play at the end of the game and
  
• Connor-Little-Laine bled shots against at a disastrous rate and unfortunately it might look like the magic of Connor and Laine together has run out. This is, of course, contrary to how all three look visually in the offensive zone, as I think most would agree that they look at their best - however, as good as they look on that side of the ice, they are performing equally if not doubly as bad on their end. I would like to see this line together as the regular defencemen get back into the lineup (notably Morrissey and Byfuglien), but can't say they're trending positively, unfortunately.
  
• Yet another game, yet another... well not quite dominating game for the Lowry line, but positive. Perreault takes the honours of being the only Jet forward with a positive xGF, no thanks to any shots he took himself (see: none), but the line as a whole was generally hustling and bustling as they're accustomed to.
• Oh boy... after two games in a row of complimenting the fourth line, they crash down hard, and to no one's surprise it's when Lemieux is on the line. He might've brought a physical presence, but they really didn't do anything in the offensive zone and didn't help out the drained backend. Time to put together the Moose top line if Copp is out again. Lemieux should be sent down to the Moose.
• Niku-Trouba - steady, if you can call that steady. Enough to win the game, but Trouba looks worse off without Morrissey while Niku isn't as terrible as most thought with his limited ice time. Granted, for a last minute pairing, they performed admirably. As well, Trouba impressed visually as one of the few Jets to generate clean exits from the zone and relieving pressure from the Islanders forecheck. Props to Trouba, and credit deserved (finally) for Niku.
  
• The rest: Myers needs to take less shots himself as I don't think he's as good as he thinks he is. Granted, his pairing(s) performed the most admirably when it comes to CF% and xGF%, and not every gaffe of his is going in like they did earlier in the year. If this was a test, it would be a B+.

Chief's eyetest says: 6 points in 3 games is good. But most importantly (granted the Islanders aren't anything special; but granted he was facing shots right in front of him all night), Hellebuyck looks like his old self. Keep it rolling, boys.

For a low-event team like the Isles, the Jets sure gave them a lot of looks. Luckily a lot of their Grade-A scoring chances were from the stick of Cal Clutterbuck...

Myers looks like one of those guys I hear about who are gaming Corsi.

When you consider Chiarot-Nogier were the most sheltered pairing, Nogier's 1.39 xGA in only 10.1 minutes is ugly. 8.26 xGA/60...is that bad?

 

[Gil Fisher]

I was less than impressed by Wheeler's game. But minor quibble, not something broader.

On Myers, there was some nervous moments, but no harm, no foul. On balance, he played a huge part in the win.

Niku looks better every game, but I fear his stint is over. I think he should be given an extended run, and this is a point in time when a GM should mandate it. We have to see if he can be a big part of the immediate future for this team.

Trouba was excellent, as usual. Scouts must drool over him when reporting back to management, "he does everything well. very well. he has size, speed. he defends and scores."

Laine was a little off, but had one or two key backchecks in the third that certainly helped.

Hellebuyck was very good. Couldn't fault him on the goal. The only qualm I had was on the Pelech backhand off the crossbar in the third. Felt he froze a bit, deep in his crease, where he needed to challenge out near the top of the crease. That might be a symptom of a less than confident goalie.

Pretty solid road trip against lesser competition.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

Isles fan here, coming in peace. Very impressed with the way your team handled themselves while missing so many players. On top of that, you should have been a tired team. The first two periods, the Isles were playing some of the best defensive hockey I've seen from them all year. We had our chances and your goalie was up to the task.

To answer your question about Ladd, he is on IR indefinitely. They haven't disclosed the actual injury, but a broken bone in his leg or a torn ligament wouldn't surprise me with the way he exited the ice.

Trotz has been a God send. He has taken a mediocre (not terrible) roster and turned it into a good group of competitors. What we are missing is another finisher, an elite defenseman (though some of our young guys are developing), and a top tier goalie.

Good luck the rest of the way. The Jets are the team I would like to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup finals. Love the way your team plays the game.

I don't think I've seen a team this year play the Jets so tightly as the NYI did last night. I was really impressed.

 

[Gm0ney]

1-0 in the "post-Morrissey era".

Do I look smart when I do that?

That depends on if you're saying it ironically...I've lost track of our exact record in the New Dano Era (but without looking it up, it's pretty good).

 

[sipowicz]

That depends on if you're saying it ironically...I've lost track of our exact record in the New Dano Era (but without looking it up, it's pretty good).

Dano is tearing up the AHL, 3 games; 0 goals, 2 assists

 

[Whileee]

Nik Ehlers quitely 55.35% Corsi on the year. Coming for Frenchy's throne of the "Corsi King" on the Jets. Has even managed to pull Scheifele and Wheeler who had bad Corsi all season, above water.

Good post

I had advocated for an Ehlers / Connor switch mainly because Scheifele and Wheeler tend to get stuck in their own zone, and zone exits are Ehlers' specialty. It's really picked up that line.

 

[CaptainChef]

For sure, good luck to you too. You definitely have one of the best coaches in the league. I'd say "the best" but I'm unsure if my Toronto "bias issues" stop me from fairly evaluating Babcock

For sure, Trotz is amazing. Turning this team into winners with who is left on that roster is worthy of praise. Washington laid an egg letting that guy go.

 

[Tommigun]

For sure, Trotz is amazing. Turning this team into winners with who is left on that roster is worthy of praise. Washington laid an egg letting that guy go.

They didn’t even acknowledge Trotz existing and cut him out from footage during the SC banner raising event in their first home game of the season.

 

[CaptainChef]

Quick thoughts ()....

ESW - Another really strong game by all three. I'm loving Ehlers on this line. It's almost like he has a superpower called ZEE (zone exit entry). He's also clicking in the offensive zone, and doing a better job in board battles. Scheifele and Wheeler played a solid game.

CLL - Not their best game. They weren't clicking that much, and got caught in their own zone a bit too much. Still, Laine looks like he could score on almost any shift. Little still seems to have his speed and jam, which is one of this season's underrated developments.

PLT - 3rd line keeps chugging along. Lowry is such a smart and effective player. Perreault gives them a bit of juice. Tanev was buzzing and creating havoc for the Isles' D, as usual.

LRA - I continue to be impressed by Roslovic and Appleton, even though they didn't have as much positive impact this game. Roslovic is starting to "feel it" with the puck, and Appleton continues to use his speed and decent size / reach to cut down time and space for the opposition. I know Lemieux had a horrible CF% and didn't do much, but I didn't think he did anything egregious in the game. The "hate meter" is deep into the red zone for him right now, though...

83-8 Stellar game from Trouba. Showed his #1 D credentials. Just solid in every facet, and looks like he could play all game. Niku is settling in nicely. His gap control was much better, and he made a lot of nice decisions and plays with the puck. He made a couple of ill-advised plays, but you have to know he'll clean that up, being such a smart and skilled player. I want to see more of him as the season progresses. Having him develop into a legit top-4 D would be huge for the Jets.

6-57 Myers has been slagged all season, as much by me as anyone, but I thought he had another very strong game. He was making quick decisions, using his skating to get out of trouble and smother the opposition. A very encouraging road trip from him. Schilling had a solid game. It's nice when your #10 D now is better than your #5 and #6 was a few years ago (ahem, Stuart / Harrison).

7-62 Chiarot was solid enough. He is what he is... not great with the puck, but decent at shutting down chances from dangerous areas. Nogier acquitted himself fine. Skated well, decent gap control and moved the puck quickly.

Hellebuyck with a very solid game. I'm hoping that this is the start of a turnaround for him, though I must say that I haven't been quite as concerned as many others seem to be this season. Goalies do have some ups and downs, and there is a lot of randomness to goals.

Very nice road trip... 6 points out of three buildings where the home team has racked up a lot of wins this season.

I look forward to your reports each game Whileee. Top notch informative & usually right on the money. If there was a 5-star like, I'd give it to these reports every time.

 

[AlphaLackey]

Quick thoughts ()....

ESW - Another really strong game by all three. I'm loving Ehlers on this line. It's almost like he has a superpower called ZEE (zone exit entry). He's also clicking in the offensive zone, and doing a better job in board battles. Scheifele and Wheeler played a solid game.

CLL - Not their best game. They weren't clicking that much, and got caught in their own zone a bit too much. Still, Laine looks like he could score on almost any shift. Little still seems to have his speed and jam, which is one of this season's underrated developments.

PLT - 3rd line keeps chugging along. Lowry is such a smart and effective player. Perreault gives them a bit of juice. Tanev was buzzing and creating havoc for the Isles' D, as usual.

LRA - I continue to be impressed by Roslovic and Appleton, even though they didn't have as much positive impact this game. Roslovic is starting to "feel it" with the puck, and Appleton continues to use his speed and decent size / reach to cut down time and space for the opposition. I know Lemieux had a horrible CF% and didn't do much, but I didn't think he did anything egregious in the game. The "hate meter" is deep into the red zone for him right now, though...

83-8 Stellar game from Trouba. Showed his #1 D credentials. Just solid in every facet, and looks like he could play all game. Niku is settling in nicely. His gap control was much better, and he made a lot of nice decisions and plays with the puck. He made a couple of ill-advised plays, but you have to know he'll clean that up, being such a smart and skilled player. I want to see more of him as the season progresses. Having him develop into a legit top-4 D would be huge for the Jets.

6-57 Myers has been slagged all season, as much by me as anyone, but I thought he had another very strong game. He was making quick decisions, using his skating to get out of trouble and smother the opposition. A very encouraging road trip from him. Schilling had a solid game. It's nice when your #10 D now is better than your #5 and #6 was a few years ago (ahem, Stuart / Harrison).

7-62 Chiarot was solid enough. He is what he is... not great with the puck, but decent at shutting down chances from dangerous areas. Nogier acquitted himself fine. Skated well, decent gap control and moved the puck quickly.

Hellebuyck with a very solid game. I'm hoping that this is the start of a turnaround for him, though I must say that I haven't been quite as concerned as many others seem to be this season. Goalies do have some ups and downs, and there is a lot of randomness to goals.

Very nice road trip... 6 points out of three buildings where the home team has racked up a lot of wins this season.

Great analysis as always Whileee. Referring to your commentary, re: the bolded,

A. for all we sweat our D depth, it has still improved immeasurably in the last few years. I commented in the GDT and I'll repeat it here -- Schilling and Nogier well exceeded my expectations. I know it's just one game but I have significantly more confidence in our callups, ESPECIALLY once they can be sheltered even more with home ice advantage.

B. Absolutely correct about goaltending variance. Like, let me be crystal clear, of course I think Hellebuyck hasn't played his best hockey this year, at least up until two games ago -- I have zero issue with any of the four goals he's let in in the last two games -- but there is no way he's gone from a Vezina finalist to an AHL replacement level in one offseason. Variance is so huge in goaltending ESPECIALLY with a flaky stat like SV%, which has two reasons -- it's a percentage stat AND it's got a lot of noise -- for being worthless in short sample sizes. It's one of the few stats I trust less than the eye-test for any sample size not measured in the thousands.

 

[buggs]

Good post

I had advocated for an Ehlers / Connor switch mainly because Scheifele and Wheeler tend to get stuck in their own zone, and zone exits are Ehlers' specialty. It's really picked up that line.

I was among those advocating the switch as well, though for different reasons. Wanted Connor on 2nd to dig pucks out, something Ehlers/Laine weren't doing well. Getting a different boost to 1st is just gravy IMO.

 

[SUX2BU]

The class of 2015 played well last night ......

 

[AlphaLackey]

For sure, Trotz is amazing. Turning this team into winners with who is left on that roster is worthy of praise. Washington laid an egg letting that guy go.

I still have no idea how it happened that you don't take some of those fat cheques you got for winning the cup and shave a little off for the coach who helped you end decades of championship futility.

 

[Zhamnov5GoalGame]

Morrow's injury, combined with Buff has started the evaluation process. And so far, so good, considering it's a road trip. I think the coaches may have wanted to see Niku with Ttouba just to see him play with a player that keeps pace with him. Still not sold on Niku-Buff because I think Buff takes a lot of risks and that may expose some of Sami's weakness, whereas a more steady defenseman lets him be the risk taker. The options open up when everyone comes back, might see:

Morrissey-Buff
Niku-Trouba
Chiarot-Myers
7. Kulikov
8. Morrow
9. Poolman
10. Nogier

And if that works that's one less asset you need to acquire in a playoff run.

I didn't see much of this game, only a bit in the waiting room waiting for an MRI on my knee. I knew the Isles would represent a more tight checking game, they play within their coach's system, without the talent we have. Looking forward to the highlights. Keeping pace, let's keep gunning for 1st place, and some home ice magic.

I think the Jets will bring in anther D for depth even if it's just in the vein of a "Morrow type" pick up.
Someone to play on the 3rd pair or be in the mix to step in for injuries.
But what you have above may reduce the need for a real top 4 type rental (which would cost us a good asset to acquire)

 

[Zhamnov5GoalGame]

Great to have players step up when injuries happen. Jets are starting to look like the Jets of last year and if Hellebuyck finds his form again games are going to be a lot of fun to watch. On a side note Chevy need to find a way to sign Trouba.

I think the only way this happens is if Trouba scores enough points this year to justify a higher contract value.
Things like Trouba getting a bit of PP1 time helps that out, but when were healthy that won't be the case.
He does have a pretty good little streak going.

 

[Zhamnov5GoalGame]

Trots's defence again the Jets PP was the best I've ever seen. They were able to take Wheeler out of the equation on the PP with their cover of both Laine and Scheifele and giving Wheeler nothing to pass to. If the rest of the league figure this out the Jets PP may not be so dominate as it has been.

To add on to or expand on some other thoughts.
When a team does what NYI did then we just need to change up our tactics a bit.
Scheif and Laine can rotate with each other.
Scheif can also change his depth (i.e. close in on the goalie or fade out a bit further).
I believe this with some Laine drifting into space can re-open the passing lanes when teams try to build a "wall".
If Wheeler is going to take the shot because they are just daring him then he should use that free space to improve his angle (while still threatening to pass). Wheeler's shots have 3 likely outcomes
1) Muffin shot gloved and frozen
2) The "Evander" High and Wide that clears the zone
3) the VERY rare goal

The main issue with our PP when it isn't working is well is our bad zone entries.
Makes you wonder how we get Ehlers on the first PP for that purpose.