Article written by The Comish - Winnipeg Correspondent Sportmentary Online Sports Talk
The Winnipeg Jets embarked on a five game road trip to start week five of
the shortened 2012-13 season with their heads buried in the sand
after losing three straight at home in front of their adoring fans. The
honeymoon appeared over and the unconditional love heaped upon the
local club was gone. Moreover, there were very few fans or pundits
that gave the Jets any hope on the road. I didn't give them much of a
chance because of their inconsistency, lack of intensity,un-special
teams play and the cloud of the old Atlanta thrasher mentality hanging
over their head.
However, the Jets proved everyone wrong this past week and showed
there is a reason you play the games as anything can happen. In fact,
if they would not have run out of steam and suffered a third period
collapse in Philadelphia the Jets would be 4-0 instead of 3-1 on the
road trip. The main difference between this week and last is the Jets
found ways to win close games. Anyone who watches the NHL knows that there is little room for error in this tight checking, low
scoring league and the difference between winning and losing is razor
thin just like a skate blade.
The week got off to a great start as the Jets went into Buffalo beat
the Sabres 2-1 and were the straw that broke the Sabres back and
resulted in the firing of Lindy Ruff. The only head coach the Sabres
had known since 1997 was Ruff. The Jets got strong efforts from Ladd,
Little, Wheeler line as both "L's" got goal while Ondrej Pavelic had a
solid effort playing in his 200th game as a Thrasher/Jet. The Sabres
were buzzing in the last 12 minutes but the Jets shut them down,
played smart hockey and proved that you never know which Jets team
will show up on a given day.
The Jets headed to Carolina to play their divisional foe but a freak
accident resulting in Zac Redmond requiring emergency surgery to
repair his femoral artery that was sliced by a skate during practice
cast a shadow on this game. The players were all shaken by the
situation and as the week progressed more details were released
illustrating just how life and death the situation was.
Redmond is out
for the season and the club said it is too early to tell what the future holds for him. The Jets somehow picked up the pieces and despite a
sloppy start the team pulled off a 4-3 win thanks in large part again
to the Little, Ladd, Wheeler line as Blake Wheeler scored two goals and
Ladd playing his 500th NHL game set up Wheeler for the winner. Evander
Kane scored his first goal in seven games and Pavelic was also in fine
form keeping the Jets in the game with his tremendous play.
The club then headed off to play the Flyers for a matinee affair on
Saturday. The Jets took a 3-1 lead into the third period but it was
erased as they were unable to kill off back to back penalties, and
ultimately the Flyers and perhaps the emotion of the Redmond incident
coupled with the hectic schedule were too much to overcome. The
Flyers walked away with a 5-3 win sealed by a Zac Rinaldo empty net
goal with just over a second on the clock. The players and even Coach
Noel complained about the work of the men in stripes but it cannot
change the outcome of the game and it put the weak special teams play
back in the spotlight.
Fortunately, there was no time to dwell on it or practice the penalty
kill as the Jets headed to New Jersey for a 4pm game on Sunday. The
Jets could have rolled over for this game and no one would have blamed
them (they would have just complained at the top of their lungs) as
going 2-2 would be more than anyone expected based on the home stand.
However, the stars aligned for the the Jets who pulled off a 4-2
victory as Martain Brodeur getting injured in the warm up, Anthony
Puluso getting into an early fight that inspired the squad, Zac
Bogosian getting his first goal of the season and Evander Kane scoring
the winning goal on a beautiful move. The downside to this game was
the injury suffered by big Dustin Byfuglien who smashed his knee into
the boards and was unable to play after the incident.
The result in New Jersey was unexpected but welcomed as the Jets are
now two points out of first place in their division and two points from a
playoff spot. Yesterday's win and this road trip have shown that this
team does have heart and character. The team is nowhere near perfect
with the problems being readily apparent to the fans, coaches and
management but for the moment things are looking up and there are lots
of positive things to be taken from the last four games.
Unfortunately,
life in pro sports comes down to what have you done for me lately and
the next game will be a formidable task against a Rangers team that is
looking to get back on track after a 3-0 thrashing in Montreal on
Saturday night.The Rangers are 5-3-2 over their last 10 games and 6-3-1
at home. They will be looking for revenge and this could definitely
be a letdown game for the Jets who will have to play smart hockey aka staying out of the sin bin.
It will be interesting to see if the Jets are up
for this challenge and if Coach Noel can motivate the club to another
victory. The Jets also face the Devils and the Capitals at home this
week before heading out on the road again to play the Panthers and Lightning.
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