Hellebuyck defends his game

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This article was published 29/12/2019 (2078 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Don’t tell Connor Hellebuyck the numbers don’t lie. Because the Winnipeg Jets goaltender believes some ugly recent statistics aren’t a true indicator of how he, and his team, have been playing.

Winnipeg has just two wins in the past seven games (2-4-1), and Hellebuyck’s bid for a Vezina Trophy has taken a bit of a hit during that time. He’s given up 21 goals on 186 shots over his past six starts, including one where he got yanked after two periods. That’s a 3.71 goals-against-average and an .887 save-percentage in that span, and it would look a lot worse if not for a 31-save shutout last weekend in Minnesota.

In his most recent outing, a 5-4 overtime loss to St. Louis on Friday night at Bell MTS Place, Hellebuyck whiffed on the first shot of the game from the blue line, then gave up a bad bank-shot goal early in the second period after he was caught giving up too much room on his post.

“Personally, I liked a lot of my game. It felt the same it’s been. Nice and tight. But then a couple pucks squeaked through. Kinda bad-luck goals. I don’t know, it’s tough to say why those went in, but that’s hockey. It happens to everyone,” Hellebuyck said following Saturday’s practice at Bell MTS Place.

‘I’ve liked a lot of the feel of my game’ — Connor Hellebuyck

“I’ve liked a lot of the feel of my game. I think I’m challenging well, I think I’m moving well. I’m staying tight. But there’s a couple of unlucky bounces that are going against me right now, a lot of pucks that are just deflecting in, getting kicked in. I say it’s the ebbs and flows of the season.

“I had a really good month prior, and then this month, the bad bounces came into my game. You gotta think next month is going to be pretty fun for me.”

The Jets are hoping that’s the case. If Hellebuyck isn’t at the top of his game, they’re going to have a tough time staying in the fight. Winnipeg is currently hanging on to a playoff spot by a thread, with several Western Conference rivals in hot pursuit. And the schedule doesn’t get any easier, beginning with a rematch against the Blues today in St. Louis. The Jets will play six of their next seven games on the road, facing some of the NHL’s best along the way.

“That’s when you figure out if you’re a playoff team or not. You play some good opponents. And after Christmas, you’ve gotta win to stay in, because everybody’s winning in a playoff spot. We’ve got a big challenge ahead, and we’ve got to be prepared every single night,” Hellebuyck said.

Head coach Paul Maurice is expected to lean on Hellebuyck heavily over the coming weeks, and doesn’t believe his No. 1 goalie is regressing following a sizzling start to his season.

“His numbers would be more related to the rest of our hockey club’s numbers, what we’re giving up has increased over a stretch of time. I’m not worried about him,” Maurice said Saturday.

“He had a couple he didn’t like, obviously, (Friday) night, that’s not like him. We haven’t seen those kind, getting beat clean like that or on bad angles very often. So, we’re not spending any time analyzing that.”

Hellebuyck is on record as saying he loves afternoon games, and he’ll get another shot in today’s matinee in St. Louis.

“I know I’ll have a little extra buzz in my game. It feels good right now. I gotta clean up a couple rebounds, and I think it’s going to be good,” he said.

It’s going to be a mighty challenge, taking on a Blues club that has now won seven straight games and sits on top of the Western Conference.

“All of the best teams in the league, you can watch one period of hockey and define all their systems. You know exactly what they’re going to do. The consistency is what makes them great. And they have the ability to make some plays, some real good players there,” Maurice said of St. Louis.

COMRIE ON MOVE AGAIN: Eric Comrie’s roller-coaster ride through the NHL continues. The Jets put the 24-year-old goaltender on waivers Saturday with the hope of assigning him to the Manitoba Moose to work in tandem with Mikhail Berdin, provided another club doesn’t put a claim in by today’s 11 a.m. deadline.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg