MASON ‘GREAT PRO’ IN A ROUGH SEASON
Veteran playing second fiddle in net after frustrating injuries cost him Jets’ No. 1 job
If you take away the first two games of the season, Steve Mason had pretty close to the numbers the Winnipeg Jets would have expected when they signed him as a reasonably high-profile free agent.
After getting shelled 7-2 and 6-3 to the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames respectively to start the season, his goals-against average was 2.67 and his save percentage was .920, both slightly better than his career numbers. That’s about the closest thing to normal for Mason this season. The 29-year-old, formerly of the Philadelphia Flyers, signed a $4.1-million-per-year contract with the Jets to be their starting goalie, lost the job after giving up 11 goals in five periods in that pair of rough outings and watched backup Connor Hellebuyck play his way to a Vezina Trophy nomination.
Along the way, he missed time on four different occasions because of injuries and wound up playing just 13 games during the regular season.
He’s already missed a playoff game due to another lower-body injury, but was back in his role as backup to Hellebuyck for Friday’s Game 1 of the best-ofseven series against the Nashville Predators — a 4-1 Jets win — and again for Game 2 Sunday in Nashville.
“It’s been tough, frustrating, but you have to keep rolling with the punches and hopefully that’s the last of the injuries and I’ll just be healthy from here on out and obviously moving into next season as well,” Mason said Sunday leading up to Game 2. “Any time you miss time and you’re out of the lineup, you’re kind of isolated a little bit. You’re in the rink early, out of the rink early, so just to get back into a normal routine is nice.” Mason has played just one period in these playoffs and he stopped all seven shots he faced in mop-up duty against the Minnesota Wild.
He never would have envisioned things this way after being a No. 1 in the NHL for nine years, but he’s doing his best to embrace the role he’s been forced into with the Jets in the post-season. “His mood around the group, he’s had quiet days,” Jets coach Paul Maurice said. “It’s been frustrating for him, for sure. “He’s handled it great. He’s been a great pro. He’d like to be in the nets. It’s easier to deal with when you’re watching the game and you see Connor playing the way he is.”
Mason is prepared to provide help to Hellebuyck, a third-year NHLer, if need be.
“Just be a sounding board if he needs it,” Mason said. “Right now he’s in such a groove that not a lot needs to be said with him. I think I have good practice habits that he can obviously take some things from, but overall he’s handled himself extremely well this entire year. He’s the type of guy who you really don’t need to mess with too much.”
TANEV THE SNIPER
Heading into Game 2, Mark Scheifele led the Jets in playoff goals with six.
OK, that makes sense. Patrik Laine, Paul Stastny and Tyler Myers were all tied for second with two goals and that kind of figures as well.
Then there’s a much more unlikely playoff hero: grinder Brandon Tanev, who also has two goals.
Tanev got his second in as many games on Friday night, opening the scoring for a Jets team that was being badly outshot.
Tanev only has 10 goals and 22 points in his 115-game NHL regular-season career. His job is to play a strong defensive game, use his considerable speed to get in on the forecheck, kill penalties and throw out hits.
Tanev is proving to be just the kind of playoff warrior Maurice hoped he’d be with an added bonus of offensive contribution. “It’s nice to get the opportunity to play in the playoffs,” Tanev said Sunday. “And it’s a harder, a faster, a more physical game. I like to play fast and physical. Those are two big parts of my game. And anything I can do to energize my team and get my game going is what I need to do.” Tanev has been moved around in the playoffs, playing left wing and right wing on the third and fourth lines. In Game 1 against the Preds, he was on the left side of the third line with Adam Lowry and Bryan Little and came up with the huge goal.
“He doesn’t always accomplish things the prettiest way,” Lowry said of Tanev. “He’s all speed and kind of just goes in there (with) reckless abandon sometimes and he’s getting knocked around, his helmet comes flying off from time to time.
“But he seemed to score some big goals for us, especially in the second half of the year. He really started to contribute, not just on the penalty kill or in a defensive role. It’s always nice to see guys like that rewarded. You need your depth players to contribute offensively in the playoffs if you’re going to succeed.”