FROM THE PRESS BOX
MIKE SAYS: Is Connor “MVP” Hellebuyck officially back? His game on Friday night sure looked like it, but it still feels like there’s another hurdle to overcome here by seeing if he can stand up to the playoff pressure on the road. So far, not so good for the Vezina and Hart Trophy finalist, who was pulled in all three outings in St. Louis after stopping just 50 of 66 shots (a ghastly .758 save percentage).
You know the Dallas crowd will be bringing it early and often Sunday, especially after hearing robust “U.S. Backup” chants directed at Jake Oettinger during Games 1 and 2 in Winnipeg. I’ll be watching Hellebuyck closely to see how he handles the chaos. A good sign for him is when he’s big and boring in his net, allowing the puck to come to him rather than seemingly chasing it. Hellebuyck certainly said all the right things on Friday night.
“We’re still playing hockey and it’s May. So, that’s fun,” he told reporters following his first playoff shutout in four years. “It’s the best time of year because you’ve dialed your game in all year long and you’re just going out and playing hockey and having fun.”
There was not any fun to be found in St. Louis last series, but Dallas presents a clean slate.
Winnipeg led the NHL with 26 road wins during the regular season, including a huge one here in Dallas last month which essentially wrapped up the Central Division, Western Conference and Presidents’ Trophy. By virtue of dropping the opener to the Stars, the Jets must find a way to win at least once on the road to keep the season going.
Given how they played in St. Louis, there’s ample recent evidence of what not to do.
“You know what, it’s (about) lessons learned. Take some of the things from what we’ve talked about, what we’ve looked at from that series, and we know we have to do a lot of what we did (Friday),” said Jets coach Scott Arniel.
“This is a really good hockey team we’re going against and they’re… They’ll be behind their fans in that building so we’ve got to play that type of game like we played (Friday).”
KEN SAYS: Having a much crisper start was a priority for the Jets, and their ability to deliver on that plan contributed to a decisive victory in Game 2. By scoring twice in the first seven minutes and change, the Jets forced the Stars to chase the game.
The Jets had a number of important players come up with their best individual efforts of the postseason, including Nikolaj Ehlers, who paced the offensive attack with two goals and three points. That he banked the first one in off the right skate of Stars D-man Esa Lindell and fired the second into the empty net was of no concern to Ehlers, who led all players with seven shots on goal and 13 shot attempts. He had his legs going once again and was driving play all over the ice.
Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck (37) gets a piece of the puck to deflect the shot from Dallas Stars’ Evgenii Dadonov (63) in the second period of Friday’s game.(Fred Greenslade / The Canadian Press files)
Speaking of driving play, Morrissey came through with his best performance of the postseason four days after getting knocked out of Game 7 with a suspected shoulder injury. Morrissey chipped in an assist, eight shot attempts, a hit and two blocked shots in 22:39 of action. He was a force in all three zones and his defensive play with 5:41 to go in the second period prevented what looked to be a sure goal.
For the Stars, there simply hasn’t been enough scoring beyond Mikko Rantanen lately. Having the opportunity to dictate a few of the matchups could prove beneficial for DeBoer.
Stars centre Wyatt Johnston was held off the board through the first two games, but he’s been a force on home ice, accumulating six of his seven points at American Airlines Center – including the series-clinching marker against the Colorado Avalanche. The line of Matt Duchene, Tyler Seguin and captain Jamie Benn have been far too quiet so far. For the Stars to get a leg up in this series, they’ll need more secondary scoring – even though two of Rantanen’s goals came while skating on the fourth line.
Although the first two games of this series haven’t been as physical as we saw between the Jets and Blues, the Stars third pair of Alex Petrovic (nine) and Lian Bischel (six) combined for 15 hits in Game 2.
In Game 2, the Jets did a far better job of churning the puck in the offensive zone and disrupting things on the forecheck. The best example came on the goal from Jets captain Adam Lowry, but as Arniel pointed out in his post-game availability, the fourth line set the table with an excellent cycling shift before handing things off to Lowry, Nino Niederreiter and Mason Appleton.
The Stars’ D pairing of Ilya Lyubushkin (1:55) and Thomas Harley (2:32) got caught for an extended shift on the play and Lowry beat Lyubushkin to the puck when it came off the end boards after the point shot from Dylan DeMelo.
This series still looks like it’s going to be a long one. Settle in and enjoy the twists and turns.
PROJECTED LINES
WINNIPEG JETS
FORWARDS:
- Connor-Scheifele-Vilardi
- Ehlers-Namestnikov-Perfetti
- Niederreiter-Lowry-Appleton
- Tanev-Barron-Iafallo
DEFENCE:
- Morrissey-DeMelo
- Samberg-Pionk
- Fleury-Miller
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Schenn, D Stanley, D Heinola, C Kupari, C Gustafsson, C Toninato, F Anderson-Dolan, G Driedger
INJURED: None
DALLAS STARS
FORWARDS:
- Granlund-Hintz-Rantanen
- Robertson-Johnston-Marchment
- Benn-Duchene-Seguin
- Back-Steel-Dadonov
DEFENCE:
- Harley-Lyubushkin
- Lindell-Ceci
- Bichsel-Petrovic
GOAL:
HEALTHY SCRATCHES: D Dumba, D Smith, C Bourque
INJURED: D Heiskanen (knee), F Blackwell (undisclosed), D Lundqvist (shoulder)
NOTABLE QUOTABLE
Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey on his team now having a template on what it takes to beat Dallas:
“I think, like we’ve talked about all year, we’re focused on what we need to do to be successful. Obviously you get into the playoffs and you’re facing the same team maybe seven times in a row, there’s the chess match element. The changes from game to game. But I think, even within that, our number one focus is our own game and preparing to play the way that’s made us successful this year. Regardless of the opponent, there’s a way we have to play. So that’s what we’re focused on. What we can do to be at our best.”
WHAT WE’RE WORKING ON
Mike is in Dallas and will have game analysis of Jets versus Stars. Ken will also author a post-game column. You can find both pieces online at winnipegfreepress.com/sports/hockey/jets
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