Post-Game Talk: Out played Jets lose in ot

[AKAChip]

Also have you guys not followed hockey for more than a season? All teams go through cold stretches, the Jets are no different. They are a lock for the playoffs and a lot of the games don’t matter at all. The Leafs were cold until recently, Preds can’t seem to get anything going etc. It’d do you good to check out some other games and take the Jets goggles off to see the bigger picture. Maybe it’s a side effect of finally having a good team, and now you demand them to win every game? It’s better to pace themselves to avoid the burnout that made them lose against Vegas last year.

The cold streak isn’t really the issue. The bigger issue is they’ve played relatively poorly all season and built up an unsustainable win total. The concern is that based on the advanced stats, it’s probable that the overall quality of this team is closer to the last few weeks than the first few months of the season.

Put it this way, with the jury still out on this season, this group essentially has one great season on its resume. This isn’t the dynasty Kings or Blackhawks or Pens. They should get some benefit of the doubt, sure and they are fortunate they have essentially a guaranteed playoff spot right now so they can work out the kinks but this team is a far cry from last season’s team on the ice. It’s really not remotely close. There are reasons to be genuinely concerned that last year was the peak, especially with important pieces like Wheeler, Byfuglien, Perreault and even Little in the decline of their careers, at various speeds.

 

[ERYX]

Tanev as C wouldn’t be half bad. He’s giving it all every single night and plays for the team. He’s definitely someone to look up to.

I love Tanev, but I don't really see him as Captain type. I think he is great at what he does and is best off being that 3rd line energy guy that everyone loves and who pots goals with surprising consistency through his hard work. He's not really a limelight guy and I'm not sure he's so much of a leader rather than "one of the guys" and an underdog kind of guy who everyone on the team likes.

 

[Board Bard]

The cold streak isn’t really the issue. The bigger issue is they’ve played relatively poorly all season and built up an unsustainable win total. The concern is that based on the advanced stats, it’s probable that the overall quality of this team is closer to the last few weeks than the first few months of the season.

Put it this way, with the jury still out on this season, this group essentially has one great season on its resume. This isn’t the dynasty Kings or Blackhawks or Pens. They should get some benefit of the doubt, sure and they are fortunate they have essentially a guaranteed playoff spot right now so they can work out the kinks but this team is a far cry from last season’s team on the ice. It’s really not remotely close. There are reasons to be genuinely concerned that last year was the peak, especially with important pieces like Wheeler, Byfuglien, Perreault and even Little in the decline of their careers, at various speeds.

Sums it up nicely.

 

[Board Bard]

I love Tanev, but I don't really see him as Captain type. I think he is great at what he does and is best off being that 3rd line energy guy that everyone loves and who pots goals with surprising consistency through his hard work. He's not really a limelight guy and I'm not sure he's so much of a leader rather than "one of the guys" and an underdog kind of guy who everyone on the team likes.

I wonder what Tanev thinks when he sees guys like Scheifele dogging it. Maybe he'll want to get out by the time summer rolls around.

 

[YWGinYYZ]

I wonder what Tanev thinks when he sees guys like Scheifele dogging it. Maybe he'll want to get out by the time summer rolls around.

It's more likely his next contract forces him out, given the cap situation and what he's likely to command because of his performance this year on the boxcar stats side.

 

[Ducky10]

While I can't say for certain because I can't pull it up right now, I'm 90% sure that the Jets last year had way more 2 or 3 days off between games (along with less back-to-backs). This is the first 3-day break (not counting the player and all-star break since players use it to go home and such) since at EDM (Dec 31/18) and at PIT (Jan 4/19).

Whether that means the team is struggling due to a) lack of practicing or b) lack of rest, is up to your interpretation.

I'm not relating it to them struggling, getting rest at this point in the season is of greater benefit than practice, struggling or not.

 

[10Ducky10]

A big part of the reason for our schedule is the trip to Finland.

 

[White Out 902]

The last real hope that I have for any playoff success this year is that this team somehow believes they have to have their extra gear saved for the playoffs. It is conceivable that they felt they were exhausted and spent by the time they played Vegas. I think we were the better team for the most part but our goaltending completely fell apart and Vegas got historic goaltending.

But maybe the guys think they need to save a gear who knows. That's our best-case scenario.

 

[tbcwpg]

The last real hope that I have for any playoff success this year is that this team somehow believes they have to have their extra gear saved for the playoffs. It is conceivable that they felt they were exhausted and spent by the time they played Vegas. I think we were the better team for the most part but our goaltending completely fell apart and Vegas got historic goaltending.

But maybe the guys think they need to save a gear who knows. That's our best-case scenario.

It can be hard mentally to keep that pace going for 82 games. A lot of teams go through a bit of a spell. A lot of teams in both conferences are doing this right now. I don't know about their underlying stats, but Calgary had lost 4 in a row until their win in Pittsburgh, for example. Nashville is under .500 since they went 13-3, if you count OT/SO as losses. Toronto went through a period winning only 3 of 10. It seems only Tampa is immune to this right now.

When there's nothing to chase, it can be hard to look at a Thursday night game at home to Colorado and put an extra gear in, while Colorado needs the points. I can expect the Jets to lose a few down the stretch if they're playing teams fighting for a playoff spot. Their record doesn't concern me as much in late March, as how they are playing will. For now, if they can bank points while Nashville isn't, it just goes towards the fight for home ice throughout the first two rounds at least.

 

[AlphaLackey]

The last real hope that I have for any playoff success this year is that this team somehow believes they have to have their extra gear saved for the playoffs. It is conceivable that they felt they were exhausted and spent by the time they played Vegas. I think we were the better team for the most part but our goaltending completely fell apart and Vegas got historic goaltending.

But maybe the guys think they need to save a gear who knows. That's our best-case scenario.

It's not unreasonable, to me at any rate, that the team is in somewhat of a holding pattern given that results are working out well and they have had two big pieces (Ehlers + one of Buff/Morrisey/Kulikov) out for two months now. That they may well be leaving some in the tank, as they say. I mean, we'll find out soon enough I suppose. FWIW I hope you're right.

 

[WPGChief]

Throwing this out there - as corsica.hockey is down indefinitely (hopefully because Manny got a job and not some other reason, who knows?), I'll be switching over to evolving-hockey.com for the rest of the season so long as they don't get bought up either. Unfortunately I can't pull all the same data as I have here, so here's what it looks at the moment...

Any opinions, thoughts? Should I add any more items? I'll try to pull 5v5 only for goalies too, but that will be a bit tougher...