In what turned out to be a much less-spirited match than their game earlier in the season, the Jets fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning 5–2 on Tuesday night, snapping their short two-game win streak, which had come on the heels of a seven-game losing streak.
The Bolts outshot the Jets 38–32, and for the most part it was a close game—until Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov rang one of the mask of Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck, who was forced to temporarily leave the game to get stitches. During his absence, backup Laurent Brossoit gave up a goal on his first shot, a Steven Stamkos one-timer from the left circle.
The goal would go on to be the eventual game-winner, and it really seemed to be a dagger to the Jets’ spirits.
Hellebuyck would return shortly after and finish out the rest of the game.
It’s not every day you see a backup who played less than ten minutes take a loss, but for some reason or another today was that day, and Brossoit unfortunately accumulates another loss to his season total.
The Jets never really seemed to find their stride at five-on-five. Aside from the Wheeler line, and the Hayes line for a portion of the second period, the rest of the team struggled to produce. Much of that can be attributed to the absence of Adam Lowry, who was serving the second game of a two-game suspension. Lowry plays a huge role in facing off against other teams’ top lines.
Of course, the Jets did address their centre depth at the trade deadline, acquiring centre Kevin Hayes from the New York Rangers.
In his first four games with the Jets, Hayes has a goal and two assists and has been extremely noticeable since coach Paul Maurice placed him between wingers Kyle Connor and Nik Ehlers, whose speed and relentless forechecking have blended well with Hayes’s mix of size, playmaking, and defensive play.
Getting consistent offensive production from the Jets’ second line is going to be huge down the stretch, and with Hayes now pegged—at least for now—as the second line centre, the team can begin to build different combinations around him until one sticks. This one has worked thus far, but it’s hard to ignore what the possibility of a Hayes-Laine combination could do should Maurice decide to put them together.
We also couldn’t talk about the Jets without discussing the impact that injuries will have during this final portion of the season, as it was announced earlier in the month that the Jets will be without Josh Morrissey for four to six weeks.
Dustin Byfuglien, who has already missed 29 of the Jets’ 66 games this season, is expected to start skating at some point this week. His return will be a huge addition, and getting him comfortable and ready for the playoffs is going to be a tricky avenue for Paul Maurice to take.
Another guy who’s been playing well since the Jets acquired him at the trade deadline is defenseman Nathan Beaulieu. In my deadline piece, I mentioned how he could potentially be used as a top-four defenseman in Morrissey’s absence. And by golly has he ever been. In his first four games with the Jets, the 26-year-old has logged close to 17 minutes a night, playing a nice complementary role alongside Jacob Trouba. He’s made nice plays breaking out of the zone, nice reads jumping into the rush, and had two points against the Columbus Blue Jackets. I think it’s safe to say he was worth the sixth-round pick the Jets gave up for him.
Finally, oh yeah, did I mention that Blake Wheeler scored four times against the Columbus Blue Jackets? And that Patrik Laine looks to be back? And that Connor Hellebuyck is playing probably the best hockey he has all season?
After one of their worst months in more than two years, the Jets are going to have to ramp things up down the stretch. The Predators are right on their rudder—get it, it’s a plane joke? The Preds made huge additions at the trade deadline and they aren’t going away. But so did the Jets, and they’ll be making another huge one once they get Big Buff back.
Fasten your seatbelts, sports fans, it’s going to be a wild ride. And it’s only going to get crazier when the playoffs roll around.