The last two contests by the Winnipeg Jets were pretty much an exorcise in how not to play a road game. The latter, against a divisional opponent that had lost four out of the last five.
On Thursday the Jets travelled to Glendale, Arizona to battle a weakened Coyotes squad that was without their starting goaltender Mike Smith.
The Jets did well. But they struggled against a team that was one of those teams below you in the standings that you should beat. The Jets did that. Handing the desert dogs a hard-fought 3-2 defeat.
By the way, the Coyotes, who do have their own history after 20 years in the Arizona desert, are still trying to pretend the Jets 1.0 history has any meaning to them whatsoever. Yes, we all know the "franchise history" of the 1971-1996 Jets resides with the present-day 'Yotes. Just like we all know the Atlanta Thrashers "history" is with the Jets 2.0. That doesn't mean we have to like it.
But as I said, these are teams you're supposed to beat. The exact same can be said for the Colorado Avalanche. As of before the puck-drop last night, the Jets led the Avs by five points in the standings. Although the one could be forgiven for not being prepared for the work of Avs rookie Mikko Rantanen, who potted an nice individual effort against Connor Hellebyck. But with a supposed all-star in the making in Jacob Trouba returning for his first game of the season since signing a two-year bridge deal with the Jets last week to end his sit-out, this wasn't supposed to happen.
He played over seven minutes of ice-time and although did o.k and didn't look too rusty, Trouba did not contribute to the scoreboard as many thought or hoped he would. Coach Paul Maurice was in the latter crowd, I'm sure. The Jets lost 3-2 in overtime by a miscue by Nikolai Ehlers 1:23 in.
The Jets tried yet again to honor the new moniker of "come-back kids" as they tied it up at 16:00 of the third period after falling behind 2-0. Mark Scheifele tied the game with a beautiful wrister from the slot. Blake Wheeler scored his second in as many games after going dry in the scoring department for the last 10.
The Jets are going to have to do better. Although they did manage to secure three out of four points on a two-game road trip, they really should have had four. Again, these are teams the Jets should have and could have beat. Missed opportunities such these may seem like only one or two points here or there, but these lost points add up. Let's hope at the end of the season if the Jets miss out on the post-season, they aren't looking back at these missed opportunities of gold. There will be other nights of points missed and still even other nights of points stolen of which they had no business doing.
Ehlers' explanation:
