Jets hope Helle holds up in second straight start

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This article was published 04/01/2017 (3174 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

 

SUNRISE, Fla. – The Winnipeg Jets will turn to goalie Connor Hellebuyck for a second straight game in as many nights when they face off against the Florida Panthers tonight at BB&T Center.

Hellebuyck, 23, helped kick off a three-game road trip with a 32-save performance in a 6-4 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning Tuesday. After the game, Jets head coach Paul Maurice said he liked what he saw from his young goaltender despite allowing four goals, adding he wouldn’t rule out the idea of playing him in back-to-back games.

Tonight will mark the first time he’s gone back to a goaltender less than 24 hours from his last start.

“I’ve never had a problem going back-to-back with a goalie who felt good,” said Maurice during his pre-game gathering with the press, adding the players in front of him should be fresh.

“We didn’t run our bench too hard last night, nobody over 20 (minutes) up front so we think there’s going to be a lot of energy there.”

Hellebuyck has had an up-and-down season as the Jets hit the midway mark. Some games he’s been unstoppable, including two shutouts this year, but in others he’s been less reliable.

In those games he’s struggled, he’s also proven able to bounce back quickly. In the three games he’s been pulled from the net this season, he’s followed with a win in his next start.

“It’s important for him to build on it over a season,” added Maurice. “We get caught up into evaluating this young man on a game-to-game basis on where he’s at and I understand why that happens. But we have a longer-term view with every other young player and we need to have a bit of that with Connor as well.”

In 27 total starts, Hellebuyck is 14-12-2, with a 2.76 goals-against average and a .908 save percentage.

“He’s shown himself to be very capable here and he has the inconsistencies in his games, at times, that all young players have,” added Maurice. “And we got to do a real good job in front of him to give him a chance to feel confident, feel good.”

It’s the second game of the season between the Jets (18-19-3) and Panthers (16-14-8). Winnipeg edged Florida, 4-3, in a shootout back on Dec. 15. Mathieu Perreault offered the final dagger, beating Panthers goalie Roberto Luongo in the sixth round of the shootout.

The Jets will spend Thursday in Florida, before travelling to Buffalo to play the Sabres in the final game of the road trip Saturday afternoon.

Projected lineups:

Jets projected line-up:

Forwards 

Mathieu Perreault – Bryan Little – Blake Wheeler

Nikolaj Ehlers – Mark Scheifele – Patrik Laine

Shawn Matthias – Adam Lowry – Joel Armia

Andrew Copp – Nic Petan – Drew Stafford

Defence 

Josh Morrissey – Dustin Byfuglien

Toby Enstrom – Jacob Trouba

Ben Chiarot – Paul Postma

Goalies 

Connor Hellebuyck

Michael Hutchinson

Panthers projected line-up:

Forwards 

Seth Griffith – Vincent Trocheck – Jaromir Jagr

Jussi Jokinen – Nick Bjugstad – Reilly Smith

Jonathan Marchessault – Michael Sgarbossa – Denis Malgin

Greg McKegg – Derek MacKenzie – Shawn Thornton

Defence 

Keith Yandle – Jason Demers

Michael Matheson – Aaron Ekblad

Mark Pysyk – Jakub Kindl

Goalies 

Roberto Luongo

James Reimer

 

jeff.hamilton@freepress.mb.catwitter: @jeffkhamilton