Don’t count Jets out From puck luck to Hellebuyck, plenty of reasons to believe comeback possible By: Mike McIntyre Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Tuesday, Apr. 25, 2023 Last Modified: 11:27 AM CDT Wednesday, Apr. 26, 2023 Updates

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/04/2023 (867 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Morgan Barron takes a skate to the face that requires at least 75 stitches to close. Connor Hellebuyck is wounded by a shot to the head, then gets his mask caved in a few nights later. Cole Perfetti gets accidentally crushed by teammate Dylan DeMelo while slowly working his way back from a wonky shoulder in his non-contact jersey.

Josh Morrissey and Mark Scheifele are knocked out of consecutive games with what look like serious injuries. Nikolaj Ehlers can’t convice doctors to give him the green light for his mysterious ailment. Heck, even the backup goalie, David Rittich, somehow got hurt despite not playing a single second.

Yes, it’s a painful time to be a member of the Winnipeg Jets, with plenty of blood and sweat spilled already. And a fan, too, considering the way this best-of-seven series against the Vegas Golden Knights has played out. No doubt some are bringing the tears, especially after the last two home games ended in heartache.

I know the playoffs are supposed to be a war of attrition, but this is getting a tad ridiculous just four games and one week into the two-month marathon a Stanley Cup champion eventually has to endure.

“No, not to your key guys,” coach Rick Bowness told me Tuesday when I asked if he’s ever experienced anything like this in his four decades in the NHL.

“But that’s what playoffs are. And you just persevere, you deal with it and you move on and get ready for the next shift.”

Unfortunately for the Jets, they might not have too many shifts left. It sure looks like a once-promising 2022-23 season is going to end with a whimper rather than a bang.

To everyone ready to administer last rites, a word to the wise: Beware the wounded animal.

There’s no question the Jets are down, trailing 3-1 and facing the daunting task of having to win not one, not two, but three straight elimination games.

I wouldn’t count them out just yet.

“But that’s what playoffs are. And you just persevere, you deal with it and you move on and get ready for the next shift.”– Coach Rick Bowness

We’ve seen this group rise to the occasion before, including earlier this year when the injury list was seven players long, yet Winnipeg remained among hockey’s heavyweights.

Now comes another opportunity to do it again, with the stakes even higher.

There will be plenty of time to talk about what could have or should have been if the Jets ultimately fall short. A long spring and most intriguing summer is on the horizon.

For the purpose of the here and now, allow me to take a slightly different approach and provide a handful of reasons for optimism with the season now on the brink.

1) Help could be on the way: I was at the Winnipeg airport on Tuesday afternoon as the team filtered through to board their charter. While Morrissey was walking with a significant limp that tells you he’s nowhere close to a return — likely even if they were to somehow pull off an epic comeback — Scheifele, Ehlers and even Perfetti were all moving well.

Perfetti likely wouldn’t be ready until round two at the earliest, but there’s hope that Scheifele and/or Ehlers could be in the lineup on Thursday.

That would at least improve the long odds by a little for Winnipeg, while no doubt giving the club an emotional lift as well.

The Jets have hung tough in all three games they’ve lost, the last two by just a single goal (not including Monday’s empty-netter). Getting one or two difference-makers back would be a huge boost.

Put it this way: I like their chances a lot more if Scheifele is the second-line centre, rather than Kevin Stenlund.

2) Connor Hellebuyck hasn’t stolen a game — yet: That’s not to say the 2019-20 Vezina Trophy winner has been bad. Far from it. But we haven’t seen the type of “OH MY GOODNESS HOW DID HE DO THAT” performance that has become his calling card.

Thursday night in Sin City would be a perfect time to come up with one, don’t you think?

A 3.21 goals-against-average and .895 save percentage suggests there’s plenty of room for improvement, especially when you see that his former understudy, Laurent Brossoit, is more than holding his own at the other end with a 2.75 GAA and .902 save percentage.

Hellebuyck was confident, some might say cocky, as he spoke on Tuesday. I fully expect his best is yet to come.

3) They’ve already won once at T-Mobile Arena: Game 1 was as dominant as Winnipeg has looked at any point this year, a complete 60-minute effort that had the home team dazed and confused.

They seemed well on their way to a second straight victory following an impressive first period in Game 2. The Golden Knights got their act together for the final 40 minutes, but the Jets were right there until the end.

Home-ice advantage is a bit of an oxymoron in the playoffs, especially this year where road teams had gone 20-12 heading into Tuesday’s night slate (including 3-1 in this series).

As coach Rick Bowness and several players have pointed out, you can’t go win all three games at once. Another all-around solid performance in enemy territory would at least give them a fighting chance.

4) The Hockey Gods are bound to help them out, right? I can’t stop thinking about the fact Ehlers has yet to make an appearance, but the guy who put him on the sidelines, Minnesota Wild forward Ryan Hartman, is having the time of his life helping his team in their playoff series. (Hartman scored the Game 1 OT winner against the Dallas Stars).

That just doesn’t seem right.

As Hellebuyck stated Tuesday, luck hasn’t gone Winnipeg’s way just yet. Between all the injuries piling up while Vegas remains completely healthy, to Pierre-Luc Dubois hitting the post in overtime during Game 3 only for a brutal bounce to end up in the back the Jets net, perhaps things will start to turn.

“I don’t think I’ve got a post hit behind me, so that would be nice to get,” said Hellebuyck.

“Kind of look at the other end, I think we’ve hit about eight or 10 posts. You gotta imagine this is all going to kinda switch, and when it does, it’s going to go really well from there.”

“Kind of look at the other end, I think we’ve hit about eight or 10 posts. You gotta imagine this is all going to kinda switch, and when it does, it’s going to go really well from there.”– Connor Hellebuyck

If nothing else, it would be a nice story to give the local fans at least one more chance to fill the downtown rink, and the surrounding streets, for another Whiteout celebration given that the first two didn’t exactly go according to plan.

No pain, no gain? We’re about to find out.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg

Mike McIntyre
Reporter

Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.

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