Pre-Game Talk: Rangers vs. Jets - March 31, 2015 - 7pm

[Guerzy]

On to the next!

6 games to go in the regular season. We've won 6 of our last 8.

Click to read more...

 

[Flair Hay]

Beat them!!

 

[Positive]

This game could not come sooner...

 

[Huffer]

The team needs to put last nights loss in the rearview and get 2 points tomorrow. Too little time left to do anything but look forward.

Perreault looks healthy and was good last night, so it would be nice to move him up in the lineup. If Little is healthy, that will be a nice boost as well.

 

[Samcanadian]

Little and Perreault being back in the lineup are going to help big time. I think they'll use last night's loss as a springboard to take two from the Rangers and steamroll the Canucks at home afterwards. With those two wins we'll be in a good position to try and collect 3-4 points out of St Louis, Colorado and Calgary.

 

[jetkarma*]

The team needs to put last nights loss in the rearview and get 2 points tomorrow. Too little time left to do anything but look forward.

Perreault looks healthy and was good last night, so it would be nice to move him up in the lineup. If Little is healthy, that will be a nice boost as well.

It does , it's panic time for fans but of course the team and players don't have that option .

It's almost a win out situation , hard to see losing 2 in a row would not severely cripple the playoff hopes. We need to win 4 I think and one is likely to be the game against Calgary.

If , when Little is back , we could roll 4 good to very good lines and that may be enough of a boost to make a difference in one or two games. Anything helps .

Liked the way the PP looked most of last night , we should have two strong groups and that also should be a big plus.

 

[sipowicz]

The team needs to put last nights loss in the rearview and get 2 points tomorrow. Too little time left to do anything but look forward.

Perreault looks healthy and was good last night, so it would be nice to move him up in the lineup. If Little is healthy, that will be a nice boost as well.

Look for Little to be centering the 4th line if Mo lets him play! Should get at least 10 minutes of ice time, sound about right Mo?

Hey Mo any reason Trouba and Stu got more minutes than Myers against the Hawks?

 

[SensibleGuy]

pretty frikkin critical frikkin game. Frik.

 

[Guerzy]

I have been on both sides of the fence in recent time pre-Jets returning. In 2009, Carolina clinched a playoff spot by winning in overtime in game 79 vs. Pittsburgh. They were playing awesome hockey at the time (Under Maurice), and ended up going to the Conference Finals that Spring. What a ride it was.

On the flip side (also under Maurice), it came down to game 82, Saturday April 9, 2011 vs. Tampa Bay. Win and Carolina made the playoffs, lose and the season/year was over. Heading into that game the Canes were playing great, 9-2-1 in their previous 12 games. Ended up losing in poor fashion 6-2. Heart wrenching.

I feel like this is such an important time for these guys, Ladd, Little, Wheeler, Enstrom, Byfuglien, Stuart, Pavelec, Slater, etc. The core group of 'vets' who arrived from Atlanta four years ago. If we can make it here, who knows what happens this Spring, next Spring, and so on. Ideally it will be the start of something special for that group and this organization, the young guys, and so on. It'll rip the heart right out of the room if we miss... bah, I hate thinking about it but after experiencing both making it and not making it in recent time in the dire games of the regular season, it's on my mind. All I keep thinking is these guys deserve it so damn much. We started the year off poorly those first few games but since then this team has been 'on'. They've battled and overcome adversity (injuries, etc), and willed their way to where they are right now. To miss would be devastating.

It just goes to show how damn good and competitive this league is. In my opinion we have seen some great growth and maturity from so many of these guys since Maurice arrived, this season, and overall since arriving in Winnipeg. I don't want to see it end early this year after so much hard work.

 

[Whileee]

Jets need Little back. They can't win consistently with Slater playing on the 3rd line.

Ladd-Little-Frolik
Stafford-Scheifele-Wheeler
Perreault-Lowry-Stempniak
Tlusty-Slater-Thorbs

If Stafford starts of sluggishly (maybe new baby at home syndrome this week?), I would quickly switch Perreault and Stafford.

 

[blues10]

Look for Little to be centering the 4th line if Mo lets him play! Should get at least 10 minutes of ice time, sound about right Mo?

Hey Mo any reason Trouba and Stu got more minutes than Myers against the Hawks?

Quite the clown show the 2 shifts where Stuart and Pardy somehow got paired together for an extended time during line changes. It became a full circus when Slater joined them on the ice.

Perrault had 5 hits in 8 minutes of ice time, surely he can move up in the lineup now.

 

[sipowicz]

Jets need Little back. They can't win consistently with Slater playing on the 3rd line.

Ladd-Little-Frolik
Stafford-Scheifele-Wheeler
Perreault-Lowry-Stempniak
Tlusty-Slater-Thorbs

If Stafford starts of sluggishly (maybe new baby at home syndrome this week?), I would quickly switch Perreault and Stafford.

If Little isn't back then Mo needs to move Perreault to the C spot on the third line at least.

Buff, Enstrom, Trouba have to be a lot better, would say the same for Stu but that wouldn't be possible.

 

[scelaton]

I have been on both sides of the fence in recent time pre-Jets returning. In 2009, Carolina clinched a playoff spot by winning in overtime in game 79 vs. Pittsburgh. They were playing awesome hockey at the time (Under Maurice), and ended up going to the Conference Finals that Spring. What a ride it was.

On the flip side (also under Maurice), it came down to game 82, Saturday April 9, 2011 vs. Tampa Bay. Win and Carolina made the playoffs, lose and the season/year was over. Heading into that game the Canes were playing great, 9-2-1 in their previous 12 games. Ended up losing in poor fashion 6-2. Heart wrenching.

I feel like this is such an important time for these guys, Ladd, Little, Wheeler, Enstrom, Byfuglien, Stuart, Pavelec, Slater, etc. The core group of 'vets' who arrived from Atlanta four years ago. If we can make it here, who knows what happens this Spring, next Spring, and so on. Ideally it will be the start of something special for that group and this organization, the young guys, and so on. It'll rip the heart right out of the room if we miss... bah, I hate thinking about it but after experiencing both making it and not making it in recent time in the dire games of the regular season, it's on my mind. All I keep thinking is these guys deserve it so damn much. We started the year off poorly those first few games but since then this team has been 'on'. They've battled and overcome adversity (injuries, etc), and willed their way to where they are right now. To miss would be devastating.

It just goes to show how damn good and competitive this league is.

Nicely put, all of it, and the last part echoes my own feelings.
So much is riding for the remaining Atlanta corps, who are still the core of this team. And yet, with so few remaining games, random events, like last night, and puck luck, can have such a huge impact.

http://demotivators.despair.com/demotivational/failuredemotivator.jpg

I try not to think about how missing the playoffs this year will affect the decisions Buff and Ladd make about re-signing, but I have no doubt they will have an impact.
This is a great bunch of individuals, molded into a formidable team, but the best team does not always win over the short term. Wouldn't it be nice, knowing how hard they will take it if they miss, if we did not add to the devastation by blaming and scapegoating...

 

[Whileee]

If Little isn't back then Mo needs to move Perreault to the C spot on the third line at least.

I completely agree. The Jets can't expect to beat good teams with Slater centering the 3rd line.

 

[Conflicted Habs fan]

Rangers will think very hard if it's worth beating us, for if they do the Kings may make the playoffs and then whip their backsides 4 straight wins again in the Stanley Cup Finals.

 

[blues10]

I completely agree. The Jets can't expect to beat good teams with Slater centering the 3rd line.

I would go as far as to say any line.

 

[sipowicz]

I would go as far as to say any line.

They brought Copp in and Old Slaller had his best game of the season but against the Hawks he was back to his old crappy self, as the saying goes, you can't teach an old dawg new tricks!

 

[Jets 31]

Jets need Little back. They can't win consistently with Slater playing on the 3rd line.

Ladd-Little-Frolik
Stafford-Scheifele-Wheeler
Perreault-Lowry-Stempniak
Tlusty-Slater-Thorbs

If Stafford starts of sluggishly (maybe new baby at home syndrome this week?), I would quickly switch Perreault and Stafford.

What about trying Perreault with Little and Ladd and Frolik with Lowry and Tlusty ? Maybe Frolik could get some chemistry going with his Tlusty ? And who starts in goal , i say Pavelec has earned another shot , but if we don't get at least a point we switch back to Hutch

 

[SLAYER]

What about trying Perreault with Little and Ladd and Frolik with Lowry and Tlusty ? Maybe Frolik could get some chemistry going with his Tlusty ? And who starts in goal , i say Pavelec has earned another shot , but if we don't get at least a point we switch back to Hutch

If we don't get at least a point, the season looks pretty grim.

 

[Samcanadian]

It's really come down to how we finish the season vs. Calgary, I think. They've got 6 games, we've got 6 games...and a point on them. If we win more than they do, we get that last playoff spot.

It might be a situation where we are pulling our goalie in a tie game to keep them from getting that extra point. Do not look forward to that lol.

 

[Samcanadian]

If we don't get at least a point, the season looks pretty grim.

Depends on how the Flames do against Dallas tonight.

 

[blues10]

What about trying Perreault with Little and Ladd and Frolik with Lowry and Tlusty ? Maybe Frolik could get some chemistry going with his Tlusty ? And who starts in goal , i say Pavelec has earned another shot , but if we don't get at least a point we switch back to Hutch

Tlusty and Frolik had a few shifts together awhile back and looked pretty good. Tlusty just needs someone to get him the puck and it is not Slater.

O'dell spent about 30 seconds with Tlusty before a line change and Tlusty found the back of the net.

 

[SLAYER]

Depends on how the Flames do against Dallas tonight.

This is true, perhaps I'm still feeling a tad deflated about that last-minute GWG.

 

[CaptainChef]

Look for Little to be centering the 4th line if Mo lets him play! Should get at least 10 minutes of ice time, sound about right Mo?

Hey Mo any reason Trouba and Stu got more minutes than Myers against the Hawks?

Lets blame this one on Huddy, Mo pulling enough blunders filling out the line-up card (Gordie Howe Slater stays in at 3C when you have Perault back)!

Well Trouba did play a little bit more than Myers which makes no sense indeed, but Stu was a couple mins less (at 17 mins that's still twice too much for the way he's playing)

 

[Aavco Cup]

@stevezipay: Rangers jetting to Winnipeg 2day (as am I, but commercial). Henrik Lundqvist expected to start Tues to continue tune-up, try to brake skid