The Winnipeg Jets Likely Won’t Have Brendan Lemieux After Suspension
The Winnipeg Jets split two games in Finland against the Florida Panthers, which wasn’t ideal. The second game, the loss, was the result of a tough second period.
The Winnipeg Jets would feel great about things if they won both games in Helsinki. They’d be on a three game win streak, and starting off the month right.
And while it’s not really fair to lay blame at the skates of one player, I’m going to kind of do that. Honestly, if you weren’t paying attention, you might have missed Brendan Lemieux‘s headshot on Vincent Trochek.
It was kind of a glide-by thing. Lemieux just stuck the elbow out on the way by. Clearly dirty, and he’s clearly suspended, as my colleague noted here. It was obviously a misconduct, followed by a fighting major.
As far as these things go, it was a solid chunk of a 17 PIM night for Lemieux. We knew this was his thing. He’s a grinder. This was grinding gone wrong. It happens with these guys.
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You try to do a bit too much, and end up elbowing Vincent Trochek in the head. At this juncture, the game was already tied. The Winnipeg Jets entered the period up 2-1. A powerplay goal by Florida opened the scoring a few minutes into the period.
Oh, and guess who was in the box for hi-sticking when that goal occurred? If you guessed Brendan Lemieux, you obviously read the headline and the ~200 words that preceded these.
Winnipeg outshot Florida in the first period, 14-10. The third period? Winnipeg up 17-4. They tried their damndest to tie the game. Just couldn’t dig themselves out of the hole that Lemieux put them in.
Look, it happens. He’s a rookie. He wanted to impress. It went poorly. He’ll learn, hopefully, and he gets one more game of this suspension. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t expect to see him on the ice after that.
And if you do, it’ll be in a Manitoba Moose jersey. I can’t imagine they’ll let him back immediately. He lost control and used excessive ‘grit’ in a situation that didn’t call for it. The Jets were winning.
Once Lemieux left his mark on the game, they weren’t anymore. Look, despite the uneven start, the Jets are still in a playoff spot and a good stretch of games can really boost this team into the upper-echelon.
They’re starting to figure things out. All they need is Connor Hellebuyck to get his groove back. Either way, Lemieux blew his shot. He might be back at some point, but I can’t imagine they’ll put him back in uniform right after this suspension.
I know the goalie had a lot to do with the loss in Finland, but it’s up to the skaters to put the goalie in the best place to make saves. Helly was 17 of 18 in saves at even strength. With the Panthers on the powerplay, he was 5 of 8.
Yes, he could’ve changed the game and made some spectacular saves. Short answer? Don’t put your goaltender in situations like this. Helly’s good, but he’s the type of guy that really benefits from a strong, set defense in front of him. He’s not my first choice when things break down.
Next. Brendan Lemieux Suspended 2 Games. dark
Lemieux let them break down, and now he’ll probably be sent down. So it goes.