Hellebuyck, Jets firing on all cylinders in series-tying Game 2 win vs. Stars

WINNIPEG — That used to be a textbook win. 

Friday’s 4-0 win over the Dallas Stars — tying the second-round collection at 1-1 — noticed the Winnipeg Jets take a look at off nearly each unmarried field. 

Both particular groups devices delivered, beginning with a power-play function from Gabriel Vilardi on the 16:25 mark of the primary length. The penalty kill went three-for-three, restricting Dallas’ man-advantage to only one high-danger shot.

Winnipeg’s checking traces supplied offence in the best way they do very best, with Adam Lowry scoring the 3rd function of the sport at the heels of a very good fourth line shift that hemmed the Stars in their very own zone. 

And the Stars’ height line — Roope Hintz, Mikko Rantanen and Mikael Granlund — used to be utterly nullified, producing simply two shot makes an attempt all the way through five-on-five play. 

It’s no twist of fate {that a} efficiency like that got here in a recreation the place the Jets had a completely wholesome roster for the primary time since March 23. 

“When you have your roster like that, everybody gets kind of aligned in their spots,” Jets trainer Scott Arniel stated post-game. “Having your top-four defenceman. Having your top-six offensive guys. Then two checking traces, two heavy traces. We’re again to having a look, in the end, like now we have regarded for lots of the season.”

For all of the discuss Dallas’ intensity, this night used to be a reminder that the Jets are certainly as deep as they marketed themselves all the way through the common season. 

And when this workforce’s on their recreation, they’re a ache within the butt to play in opposition to.

“When we get in the forecheck, we get the pucks below the tops of the circles and get into our cycle game, it’s to our advantage,” Arniel stated. “I thought we played way faster. I thought we got out of our end quick and it allowed us to get down there and when we pressure, whether that’s in the O-zone or that’s in the D-zone, that’s the idea to help work to get the puck back.” 

Hellebuyck didn’t face numerous rubber however guy, he used to be magnificent. 

“He makes very difficult saves look very easy, routinely and often,” Josh Morrissey stated. “You could tell he was feeling it tonight. When he’s feeling it like that, it gives the players in front of him, defencemen, forwards a lot of confidence.”

The greatest takeaway from Hellebuyck’s recreation? He’s discovered his mojo once more. He’s calm, composed and seeing pucks via chaos. Dating again to the second one intermission of Game 7 closing around, Hellebuyck has stored 55 of his closing 58 pictures confronted. 

“There were stretches in the first round where I really liked my game, just wasn’t (shown) in the results,” Hellebuyck stated. “But, built it back better. I like where we’re at.”

What we’ve observed from Hellebuyck over this closing little bit is what the Jets have wanted. Peak Hellebuyck, in a position to stealing video games and shining when the force is at its easiest. 

Don’t omit the Jets’ Cup odds if he helps to keep taking part in at this stage. 

• Well, Nikolaj Ehlers in the end delivered within the playoffs. His two objectives could have now not been spotlight worthy — the primary banked off Esa Lindell’s skate, the second one used to be a clear-out from the Jets’ zone that went into the empty internet — however he used to be engaged all evening. He additionally added an lend a hand on Vilardi’s function.

“He was dominant. He had the puck a lot,” Arniel stated of Ehlers, who completed the evening with a team-high six shot makes an attempt all the way through five-on-five play. “I preferred the truth that he attacked the online a host of occasions with the puck. We want his line and we’d like him doing what he did this night. We’re a more difficult danger when we have now all of our items going like that.”

• That used to be, bar none, the most productive recreation we’ve observed from Morrissey in those playoffs. Even sooner than his newest damage, he rarely regarded 100 in step with cent. He wasn’t weaponizing his edges up to he generally does, nor used to be he becoming a member of the frenzy as regularly. But on Friday? That used to be a ‘Norrissey’ efficiency.

“He’s a big minute man for us,” Arniel stated of Morrissey, who logged a team-high 22:39 mins. “He plays against the other teams’ top lines. Then you saw what he can do, both quarterbacking that power play and also the offensive side, him jumping, him in the offensive zone. He’s a tough guy to target. He’s a tough guy to kind of shut down when he has the puck up there. Liked a lot of what he did. And certainly having him back is a real good feeling for our group.”