O’Reilly’s deadly deke dooms Jets

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This article was published 09/11/2021 (1488 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Connor Hellebuyck’s excellence in overtime Tuesday night didn’t matter much.

The Winnipeg Jets goalie faced a shower of rubber in the extra frame, kicking out 10 drives from St. Louis to preserve a 2-2 tie. He then successfully stared down three Blues in the shootout but was twisted into submission on a nifty deke by Ryan O’Reilly that gifted the visitors the extra point.

The Blues left the downtown arena with a 3-2 shootout triumph to improve their record to 8-2-1 and overtake the Minnesota Wild for top spot in the Central Division. Winnipeg (6-3-3) still has another three games to play on a seven-game home stand to start November.

Blues defenceman Colton Parayko rifled four shots at Hellebuyck in OT, while Jordan Kyrou had a pair. Brandon Saad loaded up from the top of the circle and hit a post.

Jets captain Blake Wheeler was his unambiguous self in his post-game meeting with the media.

“Nothing. I didn’t see anything. I didn’t touch the puck once,” he said, when asked what ‘he saw’ in overtime. “Do you want me to elaborate? I mean, it was nothing. They possessed the puck the whole time. We’ve got a good goalie.”

Turning to Hellebuyck, seated beside him, he turned the sarcasm level up to high.

“Did you make any big ones in overtime, a couple? Easy for you,” Wheeler said. Hellebuyck finished with 31 stops.

Not to be outdone by the hosts’ netminder, St. Louis goalie Jordan Binnington, making his ninth start of the 2021-22 campaign, posted a tremendous 39-save performance.

He then turned aside Kyle Connor, Pierre-Luc Dubois, Mark Scheifele and Wheeler in the shootout.

Playing hard and fast, the Jets and Blues entertained a crowd of 14,004 spectators for the duration. While overshadowed in OT, the Jets had really pushed the pace in the second and third periods.

“St. Louis is really quick and they move really well. We knew that was going to be a challenge for us tonight, to match that quickness and speed. For the better part of two periods, I thought we were right there,” said Wheeler. “You build off of that game. That was a pretty good hockey game by our team.

“We had a lot of golden opportunities that we normally cash in on that we’re having a tough time on right now. But outside of that, there’s really not a whole lot you can do in an NHL game. Their goalie played good, our goalie played good. Two really good teams and we build off that one. There’s nothing to hang your head about after a game like that.”

The Scheifele trio continues its snake-bitten ways, although it generated three brilliant chances in the second half of the middle frame.

Wheeler set up his centre with six minutes left, but an off-balance and stickless Binnington swung out his arm and knocked the puck to the corner. Later, Adam Lowry poked the puck just wide of the far post during a scramble, and Wheeler was stopped cold on a quick drive from in tight.

Neal Pionk’s tying goal at 10:56 of the middle frame was just reward for the Jets, who created an abundance of Grade-A chances. The two-way defenceman spun his way out of a check at the point and then rifled a hard, high shot that beat Binnington to knot the game 1-1.

“I’ve got no problem with that play. I’d much rather have a confident defenceman back there than somebody knuckling it back around the boards,” said head coach Paul Maurice. “Like, let me rephrase that. If any of the players were casual players that were doing that, right? Didn’t throw a check, didn’t block a shot, didn’t break a sweat all night and now we’re going to throw a spinorama at the blue line? No, you’re not very happy with that. That’s casual. But he’s the opposite, man, so if he feels he can pull it off, go get it.”

Kyle Connor’s night wasn’t all bad. The NHL’s fourth-leading point-getter (17) scored his team-leading ninth goal at 6:22 of the third period to hand the hosts their first lead of the game.

A power move by Dubois, bulling his way to the net, started the chain of events. But Wheeler and Logan Stanley picked up the assists as the Michigan-born sniper waited out Binnington and then went top shelf from a ridiculous angle.

Wheeler registered his 700th point with the franchise and the 810th of his 14-year career, receiving a standing ovation when fans were informed of the milestone.

“I love these people here. They’ve treated me like gold for 11 years,” he said. I try to give everything I have every time we play in front of this building in front of those people so it means a lot to be appreciated.”

Kyrou tied the contest 2-2 with just over eight minutes left in the third period. Stanley blew the net-front coverage, making a lazy stick wave before the Blues winger deposited the puck behind Hellebuyck.

Hellebuyck was between the pipes for the first time since Oct. 30. He missed three games, the first for the birth of his son and the next two owning to an non-COVID-19 illness.

“It felt good. That’s kind of what I was expecting. A few mistakes on my end,” said Hellebuyck. “I feel I’ve gotten certain details into my game and certain bad habits out of my game and tonight I might have crept a few of those back in. That’s just a matter of getting my mind into game speed. So, tonight was a huge stepping stone for me and I’ll only improve from here.”

Joel Hofer, a 21-year-old Winnipeg product who grew up playing in the Assiniboine Park and St James minor hockey systems, served as Binnington’s backup.

The San Jose Sharks glide into town Thursday for a 7 p.m. battle with the Jets.

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell