Jets Notebook: Monkey off his back, Hellebuyck poised for return to form
After escaping Game 7 against the Blues, Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck breathed a sigh of relief. Now, the freed-up netminder appears primed for a return to form in Round 2 against the Stars.
WINNIPEG — Among the biggest developments of the Jets’ wild Game 7 comeback win over the Blues?
Connor Hellebuyck seems to have flipped the switch.
After allowing three goals against through two periods, the two-time Vezina Trophy winner and current MVP candidate said enough was enough.
“In the (second) intermission there, he said they’re not getting another one,” Neal Pionk said after Winnipeg’s optional practice on Tuesday. “So when he says something like that, he believes it. And we believed him.”
From that point on, Hellebuyck stopped 13 consecutive St. Louis Blues shots. With each save, he looked more composed. And that “uh oh” feeling that permeated among Jets fans throughout the previous six games subsided.
“I don’t want to call it an awakening, but there was definitely a moment there where I was able to take my game to another level,” Hellebuyck said.
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Now, he can finally exhale.
“The weight of the world is off my shoulders,” Hellebuyck said Tuesday. “And that had nothing to do with anyone else. It’s just the mental grind of that series. That being said, in that moment, it was a second chance for me.”
And, perhaps, the start of a new chapter in Hellebuyck’s playoff resume.
“It’s a re-start for me,” he said. “Who cares about what just happened? We got through it, and moving forward here I’m really excited to put my best foot forward and do my job.”
Heading into a second-round series against a Dallas Stars team that boasts one of the best top nines in the league, Hellebuyck is undoubtedly the X-factor in the Jets’ quest to advance.
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You could also argue that their defencemen – who had a poor first-round showing – are the key to this series. They, too, shoulder blame for their goaltender’s .830 save percentage and 3.85 goals against average against St. Louis.
But at the end of the day, difference-makers need to be difference-makers.
No team is going to be structurally perfect in every single playoff game. And players like Mikko Rantnaen, Wyatt Johnston and Roope Hintz — not to mention Jason Robertson, a game-time decision for Game 1 — are going to get their looks, no matter how well you play as a five-man unit.
Which is why the buck stops with the man they call ‘Bucky.’
Momentum is integral this time of year. Hellebuyck allowing a softie (or two) instead of stringing saves together has a palpable impact on the team in front of him.
Simply put, if we see the version of Hellebuyck that shined throughout overtime of Game 7, we have a series. If we see the netminder that we saw for most of the previous six games? It’s over.
Sunday’s comeback win saw Jets skaters give Hellebuyck a shot at redemption.
“Now, it’s time to get back to what makes me, me,” Hellebuyck said.
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Scheifele, Morrissey updates
While both Mark Scheifele and Josh Morrissey donned regular jerseys at Wednesday’s morning skate and are considered game-time decisions for Game 1, the latter appears unlikely to play.
Morrissey, who exited Game 7 with an undisclosed injury, was an extra during line rushes. Haydn Fleury seems set to take his spot alongside Dylan DeMelo at five-on-five, while Neal Pionk would fill in for him on the top power-play unit.
Morrissey’s injury is suspected to be some sort of upper-body ailment resulting from a high hit he took from Oskar Sundqvist in the first period.
The absence of Morrissey stings, though it’s worth mentioning the Jets’ No. 1 defenceman hasn’t looked himself all playoffs. His skating wasn’t as explosive in the first round — he rarely weaponized his edges, which is uncharacteristic.
If Scheifele is back in the lineup, Winnipeg’s most trusted trio — Scheifele, Kyle Connor and Gabriel Vilardi — is reunited. That line was intact for three of Winnipeg’s four games against Dallas in the regular season, where it outscored the Stars 3-2 and controlled the expected goals-for share (55 per cent) during five-on-five play.
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Elevated role for Pionk
You can squirm at his size, or the term and AAV on his contract extension, but one thing you can’t doubt about Neal Pionk is that he rises to the occasion.
When Morrissey left Game 7, Pionk was elevated to the No. 1 role. He finished the double-OT game with 46:15 of ice time and chipped in three assists, all while matching up against St. Louis’s top talent. He made several plays in both OT periods.
“He’s just one of those guys that’s always consistent,” Dylan Samberg told Sportsnet.ca on Tuesday.
The Jets are going to need Pionk’s best in this series. Morrissey and DeMelo alone can’t handle the Stars’ best players, and Dallas coach Pete DeBoer sprinkles his weapons throughout the lineup, creating one of the most balanced offensive attacks in the league.
Projected lines
Connor – Scheifele – Vilardi
Ehlers – Namestnikov – Perfetti
Niederreiter – Lowry – Appleton
Tanev – Barron – Iafallo
Fleury – DeMelo
Samberg — Pionk
Miller – Schenn
Hellebuyck
Comrie
