HELLEBUYCK SHUTS DOOR ON WILD
Goalie outstanding, Scheifele scores two as Jets go up 3-1 in series, writes Ken Wiebe.
WINNIPEG 2, MINNESOTA 0
ST. PAUL, MINN. It was up to the Winnipeg Jets’ big guns to respond and that’s exactly what they did.
After watching the leaders of the Minnesota Wild deliver a statement performance on Sunday to make it a series, the Jets leaders returned the favour on Tuesday night.
Thanks to a pair of goals from Mark Scheifele and a 30-save shutout from Connor Hellebuyck, the Jets earned a 2-0 victory over the Wild and took a 3-1 stranglehold in the best-of-seven series.
Game 5 goes Friday night at Bell MTS Place.
On a day when he was named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy as top goalie in the NHL, Hellebuyck put forth an outstanding effort.
After allowing six goals on 22 shots in Sunday’s 6-2 loss, Hellebuyck provided one of his trademark redemption games.
Hellebuyck exuded confidence throughout the contest and his best save may have come in the opening minute of the second period.
As Mikael Granlund found Matt Dumba on the back door for a quality scoring chance, Hellebuyck pushed from post to post and made a sprawling glove save to prevent the Wild from tying the game.
Hellebuyck has made a habit of bouncing back from a subpar effort during the regular season, going 7-1-1 after giving up four or more goals in a loss.
At the other end of the ice, Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk was rocksolid once again.
The Jets got on the board with 28 seconds left in the opening period as Kyle Connor found Scheifele in the slot for a onetimer. Wild centre Matt Cullen was standing beside Scheifele, but didn’t have his stick checked and that small detail turned out to be a critical one.
Scheifele added an empty-net goal with 10.7 seconds remaining to put the game on ice and put the Wild on the ropes.
Scheifele leads the Jets with three goals in four games.
Although Connor has yet to score a goal in the series, his confidence seems to be growing with each shift. Not only did he make a brilliant backhand pass on the goal by Scheifele, he has consistently created dangerous scoring chances for himself during the series.
Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey could be getting a call from the NHL department of player safety after catching Eric Staal with a cross-check to the face. Staal was standing in the slot and as Morrissey tried to clear him out, the stick rode up higher than he was probably planning. The Wild centre went down to the ice in serious pain.
Surprisingly, none of the officials on the ice saw the play and no penalty was called.
Morrissey plays the game hard, but has no prior history when it comes to supplemental discipline — which will count in his favour. Since Staal finished the game, there’s a chance he won’t be suspended, but it’s also possible he receives a game for his inability to keep control of his stick.
Losing Morrissey would be a blow to a Jets defence corps already missing three regulars (Tyler Myers, Toby Enstrom and Dmitry Kulikov) on Tuesday.
With Myers back in Winnipeg for further evaluation, rookie blue-liner Tucker Poolman drew into the lineup for his first taste of Stanley Cup playoff action.
Poolman was steady on the third pairing with Ben Chiarot, playing a smart and steady game.
Poolman became the 10th player on the Jets roster to make his playoff debut in this series.
Should Morrissey be unavailable for Game 5 due to a suspension, there’s a chance Sami Niku could be the next man up — provided Myers and Enstrom, who remains out with an ankle injury, remain sidelined with injuries.
Niku, who had 16 goals and 54 points in 76 games with the Manitoba Moose this season and was recently named the most outstanding defenceman in the American Hockey League, was recalled by the Jets on Tuesday and joined the team for the morning skate.
The Wild had an important lineup change of their own after the team announced during the afternoon that veteran left-winger Zach Parise was “week-to-week” after suffering a fractured sternum late in Sunday’s game.
Parise, who had three goals in the first three games of the series, got caught between Scheifele and Chiarot and had only one short shift after the hit.
The Wild inserted forward Tyler Ennis into the series for the first time and made some modifications to the lines, including promoting rookie winger Jordan Greenway onto the second unit.