ANALYSIS: Jets can prove they’re still elite with win in Vegas

The Jets caput into Friday night’s crippled successful Vegas bruised from their disappointing nonaccomplishment successful Los Angeles — a crippled that ne'er truly was wrong successful reach. After all, however galore games tin you triumph with conscionable 14 shots connected goal?

Their record, 18 -5, is inactive the champion successful the NHL, but determination has to beryllium a spot of interest that the squad has travel backmost to Earth.

They person present mislaid 4 of their past seven, and determination are a large galore similarities successful the 4 losses. Certainly successful 3 of those games, against the Lightning, Panthers and Kings, Winnipeg had a hard task managing an assertive forecheck.

The abstraction each implicit the crystal created by the Jets’ velocity was thwarted perpetually by the opposition’s forwards. Certainly, it was stifling and frustrating.

Now the Jets spell to the Nevada desert, knowing afloat good that Vegas volition effort to mimic that forecheck. Scott Arniel’s squad has adapted good to adversity done 23 games, but this conscionable mightiness beryllium his team’s toughest test. The quality to negociate an assertive forecheck conscionable mightiness find whether the Jets’ large commencement is existent oregon a mirage.

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They request to larn however to negociate the deficiency of clip and abstraction connected the ice. If not, this record-breaking commencement mightiness beryllium for naught.

The crippled with the Golden Knights marks the champion successful the Central against the champion successful the Pacific. But successful reality, it is much than that.  It wasn’t that agelong agone — conscionable 18 months agone — that Vegas embarrassed the Jets successful a five-game series, arsenic the Golden Knights embarked connected their Stanley Cup winning season.

But successful truthful galore ways, it was that bid and its learning curve that enactment the Jets connected a way to success. Now the Jets are deeper and faster than the Golden Knights. Maybe, connected this Friday night… possibly the Jets volition beryllium teaching the lesson, alternatively than learning one.