Goalies relish chance to compete in playoffs

WINNIPEG Connor Hellebuyck is going to try to make sure his golfing buddy Devan Dubnyk hits the links before he does this spring.

The goaltenders became friends while training and playing golf together last summer, but that friendship is on hold now that their teams are foes in the opening round of the NHL playoffs.

Hellebuyck’s Winnipeg Jets host Dubnyk’s Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of the best-of-seven series on Wednesday.

Hellebuyck said he and Dubnyk might exchange good luck texts, but his own message won’t be too supportive.

“We can kind of throw one out there,” Hellebuyck said after the Jets practised Monday. “He’s a good goalie and I think it’s going to be fun and a great goaltending battle and good luck to him, but not that much.”

Dubnyk also tempered his well wishes to Hellebuyck after Monday’s Wild practice.

He told Minnesota reporters that he’d given Hellebuyck some advice last summer about being prepared for whenever opportunity knocks.

“For him to grab that so quickly and go, it’s been fun to watch but that’s enough now,” Dubnyk said. “It’s been a great year for him, but I’ll stop cheering for him now.”

Hellebuyck’s play was one of the big reasons the Jets (52-20-10) finished second in the Central Division and are 11-1-0

in their last 12 games. They set franchise marks for wins, points (114) and home wins (32). Their home record at Bell MTS Place (32-7-2) was tops in the NHL. Hellebuyck, a 24-year-old Commerce, Mich., native, went 4411-9 in his third NHL season with a 2.36 goals against average and .924 save percentage. His 44 wins set an NHL record for an American goalie, surpassing Tom Barrasso’s 1992-93 total with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He also tied the NHL record for most wins at home by a goaltender in a single season with 30. Wayne Stephenson of the 1975-76 Philadelphia Flyers had the same tally. The Wild (45-26-11) grabbed third place in the division with 101 points and went 6-2-4 in their last dozen outings. They had the league’s fewest home regulation

losses at Xcel Energy Center (27-6-8).

Dubnyk was 35-16-7 with a 2.52 goals against average and .918 save percentage in his 10th full season. The 31-year-old has 21 playoff games on his resume.

Hellebuyck is one of 11 Jets who haven’t suited up for a single NHL playoff game, but coach Paul Maurice doesn’t expect the goalie’s calm demeanour will change.

“He’s been so darn good all year we expect he’ll continue to do that,” Maurice said. “The playoffs may be a different animal, but the game is the same, right?

“Pucks are going to get shot and he’s going to stop them. I think he’s having that even-keel demeanour while also being a really competitive fellow. Those guys usually thrive.”

Winnipeg won three of the four games the teams played against each other, but the last one was in mid January.