Winnipeg Jets: Thoughts Before the Jets NHL Home Opener

The Winnipeg Jets were feeling good, winning their opening game of the season in convincing fashion against Minnesota. Dallas then abused them, just a few days before their home opener, to give them something to think about.

The Winnipeg Jets would have felt pretty good going 2-0-0 into their home opener. The Dallas Stars had other ideas.

Man they looked good, didn’t they? I know the Jets kept getting in their own way with penalties (five powerplays) and special teams as a whole, but Jamie Benn, Alexander Radulov and Tyler Seguin looked unstoppable the other night.

Anyway, before we process that, I have some thoughts:

When does Laurent Brossoit play? From the looks of it, he’s only going to start one of the Jets first twelve games, most likely Oct 26 against Detroit. They play the following night against Toronto.

The Jets then have four days off, then another back to back (a home and home with Florida, so, whoever made that travel plan hates these two teams). Then another six days off.

Maybe the Jets use Brossoit against Florida one of those games. I’ll assume so. Crazy schedule this year. Anyway, I don’t think we should be too concerned if he’s rusty.

It’s a backup’s job to be ready. That being said, I’m eager to see how he responds. If he plays poorly against Detroit, yikes.

Can’t wait for that Stars rematch – The Dallas Stars used their stars to belittle the Jets the other night. Ten points from those big three I mentioned earlier.

They dominated faceoffs, they dominated special teams. 3/5 on the powerplay, and held the Jets scoreless on three of their own.

These two teams don’t face off again until January. They play two games that month, one in Winnipeg and another in Dallas. It’s likely those teams will be playing different, and even might look different.

Shame. Adam Lowry even fought Brett Ritchie at the conclusion of the first period. The Stars looked good, and yes, the Jets played poorly, but Dallas didn’t miss a beat. Was it just one of those games? Maybe. But I want to find out. I’ll be keeping an eye on Dallas this season, now.

Discipline and special teams are an early issue – Well, despite going 0-3 in the Stars game, the powerplay is at 20%, 1-5. Too early to tell, I guess. But I’m worried about the penalty kill.

And for two reasons. One, they’ve allowed nine powerplays in two games. That’s, uh, not going to cut it. Tyler Myers has taken three penalties already, and he’s gotta shore that up. Blake Wheeler and Dustin Byfuglien have taken two apiece.

And after Andrew Copp, Adam Lowry, Brandon Tanev and Bryan Little shut the Wild down in game one, killing four penalties, they were horrendous against Dallas. Three for five on the powerplay.

Again, was it just one of those games? Maybe. It’s still early. They may have been looking ahead to that home opener. But you can’t do that, whatever the reason.

Look, they weren’t going to go 82-0. But you have to identify problems as they come and cut down on it. Discipline is a clear issue with the Jets after two games. They’ll be working on it.

And yes, the powerplay could be better. It’ll be fine.  Ben Bishop is really, really good. He just never stays healthy. If he does this season, I’ll be happy for him. I won’t count on him, though.

The Jets travel to Winnipeg for the home opener against LA on Tuesday. I don’t like Ilya Kovalchuk, but hey, it’s a psuedo-homecoming for him. I’m excited to see what he does. Hopefully the Jets get things moving after that Dallas Debacle.