The Jets head into Friday night’s game in Vegas bruised from their disappointing loss in Los Angeles — a game that never really was within in reach. After all, how many games can you win with just 14 shots on goal?
Their record, 18 -5, is still the best in the NHL, but there has to be a bit of concern that the team has come back to Earth.
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They have now lost four of their last seven, and there are a great many similarities in the four losses. Certainly in three of those games, against the Lightning, Panthers and Kings, Winnipeg had a difficult task managing an aggressive forecheck.
The space all over the ice created by the Jets’ speed was thwarted constantly by the opposition’s forwards. Certainly, it was stifling and frustrating.
Now the Jets go to the Nevada desert, knowing full well that Vegas will try to mimic that forecheck. Scott Arniel’s team has adapted well to adversity through 23 games, but this just might be his team’s toughest test. The ability to manage an aggressive forecheck just might determine whether the Jets’ great start is real or a mirage.
They need to learn how to manage the lack of time and space on the ice. If not, this record-breaking start might be for naught.
The game with the Golden Knights marks the best in the Central against the best in the Pacific. But in reality, it is more than that. It wasn’t that long ago — just 18 months ago — that Vegas embarrassed the Jets in a five-game series, as the Golden Knights embarked on their Stanley Cup winning season.
But in so many ways, it was that series and its learning curve that put the Jets on a path to success. Now the Jets are deeper and faster than the Golden Knights. Maybe, on this Friday night… maybe the Jets will be teaching the lesson, rather than learning one.
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