Game 2 Recap: Winnipeg Jets 2 - Colorado Avalanche 5
Now it's a best of 5 with the Avs having home ice advantage
If the last game was a win but no Picasso, what piece of art would we call this?
The Jets seemed to be trying to create the perfect shot, but were struggling to actually generate many chances that were actually on net with substance.
Everything looked great at first.
The Winnipeg Jets were outplaying the Colorado Avalanche. They scored an early goal. They looked to be frustrating Alex Georgiev after scoring seven against him the game prior. Connor Hellebuyck looked to be in rhythm.
Then everything started to fall apart.
It was the second period that the Avalanche took over, but it was late in the first where the cracks started to show. I noted in the first intermission that the Jets had to start playing smarter, manage the puck better, and get back to attacking aggressively to suffocate Colorado’s superior speed.
Every single Jet essentially saw at least one even-strength goal against. I have some criticism of the Jets’ deployment and some coaching decisions, but it’s not like any Jets played well enough to stand out enough to argue anything anyways.
It was pretty ugly going for the Jets' supposed best players. The Jets' depth actually performed decently enough, but the top-six and second pairing were bulldozed over by the Avs, which says a lot given the third period should have given lots of time for the Jets to try and create some offense against a team playing the defensive shell.
The Jets actually did a pretty decent job at reducing MacKinnon’s chances at 5v5. With Nichuskin, he had a weak 26% xGoal share and 49% with Parise. It was outside of those minutes they struggled.
As I mentioned, the Jets' top-six was not good enough, and that’s a large part of why they lost the game. That, and Georgiev not allowing 30% of shots into the net.
I think this graphic speaks for itself.
The Jets' second pairing is getting exposed and they are not moving the puck well. For our paid-tier subscribers, we can look a bit into that here:
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