Huge Win!

 

Colossal, enormous, gargantuan, giant, humongous, immense, mammoth, massive, monumental, tremendous, or my favourite, magnificent! Look at the standings this morning, the Jets are now 4 points out of a playoff spot. Now the Coyotes do have 3 games in hand, but they moved a step closer to Vancouver as well. It was also a key win last night in that both Minnesota and LA won so they didn't lose any ground there.

 

Last night the Jets did what no one else has done to Rangers goalie Cam Talbot this year, they scored more than two goals on the red hot backup who has been exceptional this year. Olli Jokinen had a nice return to Broadway last night as well, scoring two huge goals in the third to carry his team to the win. The Jets were once again out shot by a wide margin last night, forcing Ondrej Pavelec to make 35 saves for his 9th win of the season. His .945 SV% last night is way higher than his season and career average. More of that please!

 

The Jets win enjoy a couple of days of nice weather and then take on former division foes in Florida and Tampa. The Jets lifetime against the Panthers enjoy a 43-31-5 record including 21-18-1 in Florida. The record against the Lightening is not as flattering. They are 34-40-4 record overall but only 12-26-1 in Tampa. The goal should be earning 3 out of 4 points in the final two games of this trip and they will return home with a great run behind them. Currently the West enjoys a huge spread in record in games against the East. The Jets need to continue that trend.

 

Florida is a mess right now. They are currently in 29th place in the entire NHL, 5 points up on hapless Buffalo. The Jets have to win that game. Tampa Bay is another story all together. Yes they have dipped a bit with the huge loss of Steven Stamkos but they are still 10-3-0 at home and will be a stern test. Tampa also has only given up 66 goals so far this year, really locking down the offence of the teams they play. Ben Bishop has been a god send for the Lightning as well, enjoying a 2.08 GAA and a .931 SV%. Clearly he has stolen the #1 job away from Anders Lindback.

Enjoy the sun boys, be ready to dominate Thursday night or your coach will never let you enjoy a southern trip again this season.