Jets blank Canucks 1-0; Brossoit no ordinary backup goalie

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This article was published 23/12/2018 (2449 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — Christmas came early for Laurent Brossoit and his family.

The Winnipeg Jets backup goalie was gifted a start in his hometown Saturday night in front of more than two dozen loved ones. Then, he stole the show in stopping all 40 shots he faced to lead his team to a 1-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks.

Mark Scheifele scored the only goal of the game with 1:32 left in the third period, stunning the crowd at Rogers Arena which had been in a festive, holiday mood all night.

“This is one of those games I don’t think I’ll forget. To have that many shots and the game go the way it did, to have my first shutout here in the building that I grew up in, it was definitely a special moment,” said Brossoit, who is now 8-0-1 in nine starts this season.

Signed as a free agent on July 1 for $650,000, the former Edmonton Oilers backup who spent much of last season playing in the AHL has been brilliant nearly every time coach Paul Maurice calls his number to give starter Connor Hellebuyck a breather.

“He just hasn’t given us a reason not to start him. As good as he is in the games, he’s good in practice. Pushing hard to get better all the time. A real good personality in the room and if he was on a longer term deal, I’d talk more nice things about him. But we’ve got to sign him first,” Maurice said following the game.

Winnipeg improves to 24-10-2, for first place in the Central Division, first place in the Western Conference and second overall in the NHL behind Tampa Bay. The Jets are 11-2-0 in their past 13 games as they head into the holiday break.

“It feels pretty good. Exciting. I think we deserve it the way we’ve played the last many games. We just gotta take a little break and then get back into it,” said forward Nikolaj Ehlers. 

The Jets are a perfect 10-0-0 this season when entering the third period tied. That includes consecutive games on this road trip, as Ehlers broke a 3-3 tie Thursday night in San Jose with 3:07 left, and then Scheifele pulled off the late game magic Saturday night. 

“Well what we want to do is work for the full 60. We had a bunch of chances in the first two periods, but we kept going. We didn’t give up. We kept firing each other up and then we got a break,” said Ehlers.

Much like the game in San Jose, the Jets were outshot by Vancouver by a 40-23 count. But all it took was one chance, as Blake Wheeler fed Dustin Byfuglien who found Scheifele open on the left side for a perfect one-timer that beat Jacob Markstrom. Scheifele now has 22 goals this year, second-only to Patrik Laine’s 23.

“It was a grinder, it wasn’t easy. (The Canucks) played real hard, real well. And our goaler was our best player. As usually happens with us, at some point Wheeler and (Scheifele) connect and make just a great passing play at the end of the game at the end of a long stretch of hockey,” said Maurice.

The Jets just finished a stretch of nine games in 16 days but more than weathered the storm, winning seven of those at a time when other Central Division clubs like Nashville, Colorado, Dallas and Minnesota are all faltering. 

“We talk a lot about living the day. So, we’re happy where we are, we enjoy the win and 50 points gets you about halfway to the playoffs, so there’s a whole lot of work to be done,” said Maurice.

Brossoit’s eight wins is the same number the Jets got all last year from backup goalies Steve Mason (five), Michael Hutchinson (two) and Eric Comrie (one). 

“It’s awesome. I’ve skated a little bit with him in the summers and I knew what kind of calibre goalie we were getting. He’s stepped in and exceeded everyone’s expectations. He’s been unbelievable for us and it’s great when you have two goalies that come in and play the way that they have been. You can rely on them basically the same. It’s great to see him playing so well,” said defenceman Tyler Myers.

“It’s his hometown, a game before Christmas and he gets to go and enjoy his family and enjoy the shutout. It was a great game by him.”

The Jets had a couple of injury scares Saturday night.

Wheeler took a Byfuglien slap shot to the mid-section on the first shift of the game and was in obvious distress as he went to the dressing room. However, he only missed one shift and was apparently none the worse for wear.

“He might be the toughest guy I’ve ever coached. I’ve had guys play with cracked ribs, knee surgeries, but he’s left the bench a bunch of times when I had no belief that he’d be coming back. And he comes back – and he certainly doesn’t fake anything. It was a close call,” said Maurice.

Brandon Tanev also took a knee to the face during a first-period collision and suffered some facial damage, returning for the second period with a full shield on his helmet. The Jets were already without forwards Adam Lowry and Andrew Copp, who are dealing with upper-body injuries but expected back soon.

Winnipeg returns to action on Dec. 27 when the team hosts the Calgary Flames at Bell MTS Place.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg