Hellebuyck heroic as Jets overcome slow start to stymie slumping Sens 5-1

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This article was published 11/02/2021 (1668 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The final score might suggest the Winnipeg Jets had their way with the Ottawa Senators Thursday night, cruising to an easy-peasy victory over the NHL’s worst team. Ho-hum, nothing to see here, another two points against the free space on the league’s bingo card.

But those who both witnessed and participated in the 5-1 affair at Bell MTS Place know there’s a bit more to this story.

Winnipeg was fortunate to survive an early scare from its sad-sack opponent — much of it of the self-inflicted variety — before finally pulling away based almost entirely on superior talent. They can thank their goaltender, reigning Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck, who must have felt like the rest of his team missed the memo about the 7 p.m. puck drop.

How else to explain a completely lopsided first period in which Ottawa outshot Winnipeg 18-6 (off an outrageous 30-9 lead in shot attempts), along with an 18-3 advantage in scoring chances (and 7-0 in high-danger chances). 

And yet somehow, the game was still scoreless.

“We were horses–t early in the game,” said a rather succinct Jets coach Paul Maurice. “We beat the puck to death and we were slow to our players. So that’s not a good recipe and then we just got faster and sharper and quicker. We’re not going to put a dress on this one. We weren’t a very good hockey team in the first and they earned everything they got. They were very, very good. And then we got a little quicker.”

Let’s be blunt: If the Jets are to make the playoffs in the Canadian Division, beating up on Ottawa early and often must be part of the formula. And they’ve done that so far, with an 8-4-1 overall record which includes a perfect 4-0-0 showing against the Senators, who are now an abysmal 2-12-1 on the year. The two teams will play six more times this year, including Saturday afternoon here in Winnipeg.

But they sure didn’t make this one easy on themselves, at least in the early going.

“I think there’s a lot of good people in that organization. I think very highly of them with my time there. I think they are definitely going the right way. It will probably take some time with their young guys, that learning curve. But if they play like that every night, I’m sure they can live with the mistakes and what happens,” said Jets defenceman Dylan DeMelo, who came over from a trade with Ottawa late last season.

“They gave us a tough game, let’s not kid ourselves. They beat Montreal and Toronto (their two victories) and they gave those guys a hard game. They’re no pushover in this division. Their record maybe doesn’t speak for how they play and how hard they play.”

The Jets wasted no time putting the terrible first 20 minutes behind them, roaring out of the gate to start the middle frame. Paul Stastny, the natural centre who moved to the wing to play with Mason Appleton and Adam Lowry, cashed in just eight seconds into the period.

“I think we were watching a lot in that first period. No one was finishing checks. We were kind of watching and hoping that things would happen. We got beat up the ice way too many times. I think we got way more engaged. There is the whole message about being more engaged — whether it’s offensively or defensively, just get a stick on the puck or finish a check. It can be anywhere on the ice, but the more engaged,” Stastny said of what was discussed during the intermission.

He tied Kyle Wellwood (2011) and Andrew Ladd Ladd (2013) for the fastest goal to start a period in Jets 2.0 history.

You could see the Senators sag. All that effort, all that hustle and hard work had gone for naught, and they were once again in a familiar position — trailing.

Nikolaj Ehlers made it 2-0 at 7:53 when he deflected a DeMelo point shot past Matt Murray for his team-leading ninth of the year. And then Wheeler made it 3-0 with just 27 seconds left in the period, finishing off a dominant power-play shift which included a sweet pass from Stastny.

Murray appeared to get injured on the play and was replaced by backup Marcus Hogberg to start the third period.

Mathieu Perreault made it 4-0 at 2:53. Ottawa’s Josh Norris broke Hellebuyck’s shutout bid with just over eight minutes to play on his team’s 37th shot of the night. But the Jets restored the four-goal lead just over two minutes later when defenceman Neal Pionk scored his first of the year on a nifty wraparound.

“I got into a rhythm and got into it early,” Hellebuyck said of the barrage of rubber he faced to start the game, and the 41 saves he made overall. 

“The guys were keeping them to the outside and allowing me to see a lot of shots which is great from my position. They got a lot of shots but I thought we controlled where they were coming from and we handled the rebounds and we controlled our zone. Yeah, they got a big number there but I thought our team controlled it well.”

Defenceman Tucker Poolman was back in the lineup for the first time since opening night, now fully recovered from COVID-19. Maurice opted to dress just 11 forwards, along with seven defencemen, to try and shelter his minutes.

Centre Pierre-Luc Dubois, skating in his second game since the blockbuster trade with Columbus, is still looking for his first point. He played 17:25. primarily on a line with Kyle Connor and Blake Wheeler, and went plus-one with three shot attempts, a block, a minor penalty and 7-for-16 in the faceoff circle. 

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg