What is (or are) the Winnipeg Jets main follies this year?
After 30 games, should the Winnipeg Jets with all their hyped-up young talent-laden stars and potential fire-power be right where they are? Were they expected to be where they are (second wild card-at the present time volleying between a wild card and a divisional ?) Will they improve during the second of the season or falter?
The Winnipeg Sun's Paul Freisen did me a favour by already extracting some of the Jets stats on the matter.
My take, and it's a simple one; stay out of the box. As it's been since the Jets arrival back in Winnipeg in 2011, the Jets main problem (as well as sub-par goaltending) is penalties. Every team takes them and seemingly every time at the wrong moment every other team's fans will say. But with the Jets it's true. Very, very true.
If you check the numbers, the Jets have been one of the top penalized teams in the league for the last five years. A lot of them avoidable offensive zone brain farts. They also have the distinction of being one of the most penalized teams facing five-on-three disadvantages, The flip side is, they've managed to successfully kill those off the majority of the time. But the real thorn in the Jets collective side is not just ill-timed avoidable penalties, but allowing late goals.
How many times have I seen the Jets get scored on with a minute or less to go in the period? Usually it's in the third, as the most recent game against the New York Rangers demonstrated. Less than a minute from securing at least a point from the game, and BOOM, Kevin Hayes pops in a gift at the side of the gaping net. 2-1 Rangers. Not only was that one at the end of the period, but it was of course, also a power-play tally.
Right now, if not officially, then theoretically, the Jets are somehow a "on-the-bubble" play-off team. They obviously won't be with a record of four wins in a 12-game span. Everything must improve. The only bright spots so far seem to be Mark Scheifele and Patrik Laine. The goal-tending has to improve (although it has slightly) they have to stay out of the box and when the game is tied and you're close to the end of regulation, how about playing for the win and not a tie?
