The Winnipeg Jets sit in a playoff spot. Crazy, I know. And not a Wild Card, either. To be fair, they have 17 points. The four teams below them? They have 17, 17, 15, 13. So, not a time to rest easy. The good thing? Their break ends soon.
The Winnipeg Jets are back at it Friday night, facing one of those teams with 17 points, the Colorado Avalanche. Should be fun. If Connor Hellebuyck has a start with an .800s save percentage, I say you bench him a few games.
Clearly the break didn’t help at that point, and he just needs to be on the bench for a bit. Thank God Laurent Brossoit is playing well, right? Could you imagine if he was going all Steve Mason on the team?
Regardless. This team is 20th in goals per game at 2.9. Doesn’t matter who your goaltender is, that’s not going to cut it. Unless they have prime Dominik Hasek back there somewhere.
Thankfully, the Winnipeg Jets are second in the league in powerplay percentage, at 33%. They are only behind Washington and St. Louis in PPG, with 14. Fourteen of their 41 goals scored with the man-advantage. Not a great ratio.
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For reference, Washington has 16 PPG. They have 51 goals and lead the NHL with a 3.6 goals per game average. Nikolaj Ehlers needs to get going, and Bryan Little needs to show me something that doesn’t scream “you should be the third line center” pretty soon.
I told you about the fact that Blake Wheeler leads the team in points, but only three have come at 5-on-5 with the opposing goalie on the ice. Not great!
This used to be an electric team that you worried about. Now? Not one line is firing on all cylinders. It’s time for a shakeup. How? I’m not certain. Kyle Connor has been good, so maybe moving Ehlers or Little off the second line. Unfortunately, youngster Jack Roslovic has been invisible.
I say give Adam Lowry more time. The 25 year old has four goals, albeit none in the last six games. Maybe a boost in linemates can help. Bryan Little, Nikolaj Ehlers and Patrik Laine is clearly not a line that’s been working.
The Jets powerplay scoring has kept them from being a basement-dwelling team. But make no mistake, they’re playing like one.
The worst part? We haven’t seen anything. At no point has it looked like Winnipeg might turn the corner for more than half a period. This team looks exceptionally beatable. And it’s up to Paul Maurice to figure out what to say and where to put his players.
I love hockey, I really do. I’m not a strategist when it comes to it, though. And I’m certainly not keen on what words motivate people who’ve accomplished far more than I have. So I’ll leave that to the big guys, they’ve done a great job thus far.
They rebuilt, they got their boys to play up to a championship level when nobody thought they could. But that wasn’t enough. And hey, even if they don’t win this year, the roster is still young and talented.
I know that’s not what anybody wants to hear, but progression is not linear. I wish someone had told me that as a kid. And yes, a disappointing year would raise more questions than anyone’s happy with, but the Winnipeg Jets remain in as good a position as anyone to bring home a Stanley Cup.