Backstops hoping for not-so-Wild Friday night
Goalies coming off unfinished starts
The Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck and the Minnesota Wild’s Devan Dubnyk will both be hoping for better results when they go head to head when Minnesota hosts Winnipeg this afternoon.
In what was a rare occurrence, both No. 1 puckstoppers were pulled on Wednesday.
Hellebuyck got the hook after giving up three goals on nine shots during a 6-3 loss to the Calgary Flames, while Dubnyk was yanked after the Ottawa Senators turned a 4-1 deficit into a 4-4 tie, although Minnesota eventually claimed a 6-4 victory.
The netminders are friends and work together as part of the NET360 goalie fraternity in Kelowna, B.C., during the summer.
Hellebuyck was pulled for the first time since Nov. 10, 2017, when he gave up five goals on 22 shots against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Here are five things to watch for today:
1 Clean up the first period Despite scoring 15 seconds into Wednesday’s game against Calgary, the Jets gave up five goals on 14 shots in the first period. Yes, the Jets regrouped and made things interesting, but they’ll need to be quicker out of the gate in order to avoid consecutive losses in regulation time for the first time this NHL season.
2 Laine feeling it
After going 18 games without a 5-on-5 goal to start the season, Jets sniper Patrik Laine has three over his last two games and five goals overall during that span to move him into the team lead with 13, which left him just four behind NHL leader David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins going into today’s action.
3 Byfuglien a force
Minnesota product Dustin Byfuglien has four assists during his last five games and has been logging an awful lot of ice time. He has logged fewer than 20 minutes in a contest just once in 18 games and his average ice time is up to 24:43 for the season. He’s also averaging nearly a point a game with two goals and 16 points in 18 games.
4 O from the D
Speaking of defencemen who have piled up points, the top pairing on the Wild, Ryan Suter and Mathew Dumba, has combined for 13 goals and 32 points this season with 14 of those points coming on the power play. Dumba has 10 goals to lead all defencemen and features a booming shot, so the Jets must keep tabs of when this pairing is on the ice. They’ll be on the ice a lot as they average 25:54 (Suter) and 24:04 (Dumba), respectively.
5 Healthy and producing
Wild left-winger Zach Parise endured an incredibly challenging 2017-18 campaign thanks to a series of injuries, but he’s back to full health and is already in mid-season form with nine goals and 19 points, with only five of those points coming on the power play. Parise has also enjoyed considerable success against the Jets during his career, recording 17 goals and 35 points in 42 games.