JETS SITTING PRETTY AT ALL-STAR BREAK
Winnipeg leading its division despite Hellebuyck and Laine having off years
They headed off on vacation with a decent grip on first place and a mindset that this will be their last good rest before a stretch run they hope extends well into June.
The Winnipeg Jets began their bye week Sunday, with players going their separate ways to sunny climes to recharge for the final two months of the marathon known as an NHL season.
They did so with a 31-15-2 record, good for 64 points, which leaves them four points up on second-place Nashville, with two games in hand.
Yes, they lost their last game in Dallas Saturday night, looking tired and sluggish for two periods and unable to recover despite a hard push in the third.
That loss doesn’t change the fact this Jets team has become well balanced and consistent.
It wins considerably more often than it loses, even with key players like Dustin Byfuglien and Nikolaj Ehlers out of the lineup with injuries.
The Jets have top-level scoring talent in all-star players Mark Scheifele and Blake Wheeler, strong, minute-munching defencemen in Byfuglien — who should return from an ankle injury shortly after the all-star break — Jacob Trouba, Josh Morrissey and Tyler Myers, and decent goaltending from Connor Hellebuyck and Laurent Brossoit. They’ve got a great checking line made up of Adam Lowry, Brandon Tanev and Mathieu Perreault and an emerging fourth line made up of Andrew Copp, Brendan Lemieux and Mason Appleton, which has been producing regularly as of late.
Their special teams units are in the upper echelon of the league (power play is third at 26 per cent, penalty kill 11th at 81.2 per cent), they have an excellent goal differential (third, plus-33), and they are generally a strong possession team (14th at 50.25 Corsi For).
They beat both the Nashville Predators and Vegas Golden Knights — two possible playoff opponents — this week before stumbling against Dallas.
Many people will read what’s just been said here and think “What’s not to like?”
Well, there’s always something. It’s mostly been a miserable season for third-year winger Patrik Laine, who is playing like a rookie and has not found his scoring touch on most nights since the beginning of December.
He scored an astounding 18 times in November but has just seven goals in the other three months of the season.
Laine has scored at an elite level in his three seasons but he clearly has a long way to go to become a complete player.
Jets fans expect a lot from him — that’s what happens when you score 100 goals before your 21st birthday — but need to have some patience.
He’s still only 20 and is not a player anyone should give up on.
Hellebuyck hasn’t been great either. The 2018 Vezina Trophy runner-up has pedestrian numbers this year, has allowed a fair number of soft goals and has been pushed hard by the outstanding play of backup Brossoit.
Hellebuyck hasn’t looked like a goalie who can carry a team on a long playoff run this year, though he repeatedly says that’s the way it should be.
He’s aiming to peak in April and May, not right now.
Another area of concern recently has been the Jets’ power play, 0-for-11 in the last three games.
It’s not clicking the way it was earlier in the season, possibly because other teams have figured out a way to slow it down, possibly because it misses point-man Byfuglien and possibly because the coaches have been tinkering with it too much when it didn’t need tinkering.
Then there’s the fact that the Jets have taken 17 minor penalties in the last three games. Didn’t this consistent lack of discipline pass a couple of years ago?
Of course, all this is nitpicking. The Jets are first in their division, second in their conference behind only Calgary and third in the entire NHL, behind only Tampa and Calgary.
Wheeler made sure people remembered that after Saturday’s loss, saying the thing he’s going to remember during the bye week and all-star break is that the Jets are in first place.
Hellebuyck echoed that comment, suggesting Jets fans should be thankful for what they have — a very good hockey team that is getting the job done to this point in the season.
I’d have to agree with them. No team is perfect and every team has off nights.
People have incredibly high expectations of this team and rightly so because the Jets are legitimate Stanley Cup contenders.
Even if they make that happen in June, there will be bumps along the way.
It doesn’t make the Jets exempt from criticism, but sometimes a little perspective is necessary.
As Hellebuyck said, people should enjoy this good thing while they can.