HELLEBUYCK HAS TO IMPROVE GAME FOR JETS TO SOAR
If you’re searching for an explanation for why the Winnipeg Jets are a few strides off the pace they set last season, look no further than the primary man between the pipes.
Just as Connor Hellebuyck was a major factor in getting the Jets to second place overall in the regular season and all the way to the Western Conference final in 2017-18, the third-year goaltender has played a large role in the team’s inconsistent start to this campaign.
Hellebuyck has a 9-7-1 record, with a 2.98 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage through the team’s first 23 games.
His goals-against average was 27th among NHL goalies who have played at least 10 games prior to Wednesday night’s games, and his save percentage 25th.
Last year, when Hellebuyck finished second in Vezina Trophy voting, he was sixth among all starters in GAA (2.36) and seventh in save percentage (.924).
At this point last season, through 23 games, Hellebuyck was 13-2-2, with a 2.31 goalsagainst average and a .932 save percentage.
That drop-off in his numbers is an obvious correlation to the Jets’ slightly inferior record. Last season, through 23 games, they had 31 points and this year they have 28.
It’s not a massive dip, but if things don’t improve, it could be the difference between hosting a playoff series in the first round and being a wild-card team, or worse.
There are so many aspects to the game of hockey that it would be thoroughly unfair to pin the Jets’ defensive struggles on Hellebuyck alone.
But even elite teams need outstanding goaltending to win consistently. Good, not great, is simply not good enough, and Hellebuyck has been no better than average.
You have to wonder where the Jets might be were it not for backup goalie Laurent Brossoit, who has a sparkling 4-0-1 record, 2.05 GAA and .937 save percentage. Hellebuyck took Tuesday’s home-ice loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on his own shoulders and rightly so.
He let in a terrible goal off the stick of journeyman fourth-liner Derek Grant to tie the game in the third period and the Jets went on to fall 4-3, blowing a third-period lead for the fifth time this season.
It’s admirable of Hellebuyck to take the blame, but what he really needs to do is pick up his play. His numbers are eerily similar to the ones he posted in 2016-17 (2.89 GAA, .907 save percentage), when the Jets had so little confidence in his game, they went out and made a big mistake by signing Steve Mason.
Everyone who watched the Jets last year knew the biggest difference was goaltending. It wasn’t everything — the Jets improved their all-around game, particularly on the defensive end — but it was a huge factor.
For them to run with teams such as Nashville, Minnesota and Colorado this year, the goaltending is simply going to have to improve, on a nightly basis.
Whether it’s a problem with adjusting to new equipment or some other problem, Hellebuyck has to find a way to get past it.
Other areas of the Jets’ game need to improve, as well. Defensively, they have not been good. There have been too many lapses, especially in third periods. It’s something that has Winnipeg fans and people within the organization concerned.
“Right now I think we’re maybe a bit too relaxed, maybe coming off it a bit,” veteran Jets centre Bryan Little said Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s home game against the Chicago Blackhawks.
“We kind of forgot how hard we had to work to protect a lead and to play our game in those third periods last year, and to really go into the third period excited for it. That’s something we’re trying to get back to right now.”
It doesn’t help that Hellebuyck’s worst period by far this year has been the third.
In the first and second period this season, he has allowed 28 goals on 382 shots, for a save percentage of .926.
In the third period, he has allowed 23 goals on 167 shots, for a save percentage of .862.
That is nowhere near good enough.