The Winnipeg Jets couldn’t get out of their own way tonight and suffer their first loss of the season to the New York Islanders by a score of 4-2 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

This is what losing feels like? I don’t like it. Let’s never, ever do this again. 81-1-0 is still a good record I suppose.

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The first period was certainly one to forget for the Jets. The Jets continued their trend of starting slow and the Islanders came out ready to play and jumped all over them. They didn’t help their cause either with their undisciplined play. The Jets spent half of the first period shorthanded. Literally, I mean half. The Jets had five minor penalties in the first period alone. Two of which were committed by Ben Chiarot, who had a exceptionally rough opening period along with his defensive partner Dustin Byugflien. The Isles dominated in the shot department 16-6.

Despite the poor and undisciplined play, the Jets seemed like they would somehow get out of the opening period scoreless. That is, until Islanders forward Ryan Strome finally capitalized on the power play due to a Mark Stuart interference penalty with 12 seconds remaining in the period. If not for Pavelec standing on his head, this game could have been over before the second period even began.

The second period started off much like the first. A lot of lackadaisical and sloppy play by the Jets. Islanders continued to pounce on the Jets and finally cashed in with another goal. The Jets started to press a bit too much and had four players caught down low in the offensive zone. The play resulted in a 3 on 1 the other way for the Islanders and Brock Nelson put one past Pavelec from the right circle to make it 2-0.

After that goal, the Jets started to try and pick up their physicality, which led to a couple dumb penalties by Dustin Byugflien. With Byugflien in the box for elbowing, John Taveres put home a Marek Zidlicky rebound on the power play to make it 3-0 Isles.

The best line for the Jets in the second period was by far the Perreault-Scheifele-Ehlers line. The trio finally was able to create some offensive zone time on a great entry by Ehlers. Ehlers then fed Scheifele in the slot who let go on absolute laser of a wrist shot that beat Greiss and got the Jets on the board. The Jets seem to wake up a bit after that goal and ended the period on a strong note.

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The third period was much better and more like how the Jets have played in their two previous games. They were able to sustain some pressure and ended up drawing a tripping call on Isles forward Josh Bailey. Byugflien redeemed himself from his mistakes in the second period by ripping a blast from the point past Greiss to make it one goal game. Despite the better play in the third and out-shooting the Isles 9-8 in the period, and Pavelec stopping John Tavares on a penalty shot, it just wasn’t enough to get the game level. Josh Bailey added an empty net tally with 19 seconds remaining in the game.

The good news is the Jets can have a short memory and shake this one off right away, as they get right back into action tomorrow against the New York Rangers.

THREE KEYS

Undisciplined Play: The first and probably most obvious key to this game had to be the penalties. The Jets took 8 minor penalties and gave Tavares a penalty shot in this game. Yes, a couple of those penalties were coincidental minors, but you won’t win many games taking 16 minutes worth of minor penalties.

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Pavelec Stays Strong: Goaltending was certainly not the issue in this game. Pavelec continued his strong start to the season as he stopped 40 out of 43 shots the Isles threw at him. You can’t really blame any of the goals on Pavelec, and this game could have easily been 6-2, 7-2 or even 8-2 if not for some of the incredible saves he made today.

Scheifele For Rocket Richard: Scheifele continues his completely sustainable goal scoring streak, as he scores his third goal in as many games. Scheifele now has scored on 3 of his 6 shots so far this season and is still on pace to score 82 goals this season. That’s realistic, right? While Scheifele won’t keep up this pace and score 82 goals this season, he’s shown that he has a wicked snap shot and he’s not afraid to use it. Scheifele looks like he’s poised for a career year.

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YOUR HOT TAKES

@nhljetsnation The jets crossing the blue line out of their own zone was like trying to invade Russia in the winter. It didn’t happen

— Hockey Lake (@hockeylake72) October 12, 2015





Extremely accurate.

@nhljetsnation Our insiders tell us the kid in the bottom of the trench coat who plays as Tyler Myers’ legs was tired today.

— Real Hockey News (@FakeHockeyNews) October 12, 2015

Would love to know who your insiders are. They are doing Gord’s work. This also explains a lot.

@nhljetsnation We played like crap yet were still somehow in the game. I think this season will be alright.

— Fuelled by Corn Nuts (@Buffs_Buffet) October 12, 2015

There we go. Always need to find a silver lining. Love the optimism.

CHARTS AND STUFF

Winnipeg Jets individual 5v5 statistics:

Shot attempt chart for all minutes:





Goals are in red. Misses are in black. Blocks are in green. Saves are in blue.

Rush attempts are larger and italicized.

Rebound attempts are larger.

GIF RECAP

Just as we were celebrating being 2-0….







