New father Hellebuyck given the night off

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This article was published 02/11/2021 (1404 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

News that Connor Hellebuyck wouldn’t be in the Winnipeg Jets lineup would normally send a chill up the spines of both the club and its fans. After all, the 2020 Vezina Trophy winner is a huge part of the current puzzle.

But Tuesday’s absence at Canada Life Centre was reason to celebrate, not panic. Hellebuyck was given the night off after his wife, Andrea, gave birth to the couple’s first child, a healthy baby boy, earlier in the day.

“We’re going to leave him with mom and his new baby today. It’s all good,” coach Paul Maurice said following the morning skate.

That meant backup Eric Comrie was in net against the Dallas Stars, his second start of the young season. Mikhail Berdin, the No. 1 netminder with the Manitoba Moose, got a day’s worth of NHL pay and a great view of the action after getting called up from the farm earlier in the day.

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It’s a bit of a chicken-and-egg argument. But inquiring minds needed an answer Tuesday to the burning question of the day: Were Blake Wheeler and Mark Scheifele bumped down to the third line to play with Adam Lowry? Or was Lowry given a promotion up to the top trio with his new linemates?

“That’s a good one,” Lowry said. “I’ll say they’re going to join me on the third line and they’ll say I’m joining them on the first line. It all depends on how you look at it.”

It’s fairly clear how Maurice looks at it — he didn’t want to disrupt his top two lines that have both produced in the absence of Wheeler and Scheifele, who were sidelined with COVID-19. And so he opted to keep Andrew Copp between Paul Stastny and Nikolaj Ehlers, and Pierre-Luc Dubois skating with Kyle Connor and Evgeny Svechnikov. That left Lowry in somewhat unfamiliar territory, moving to left-wing along and playing with the type of offensive talent that rarely comes his way.

Which brings us to the next question: Is the numbering of lines one, two and three now up for debate?

“It’s a good problem to have. I think each line will fight over that title,” said Lowry. “I think it’s good competition. I’m just looking forward to playing with those guys. You get to play with two all-stars, two guys that think offence, they can put the puck in the net, they’ve put up numbers consistently over the years. Just trying to do what I do, maybe chip in a little bit, maybe get them the puck as much as I can and just try not to change my game too much.”

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Defenceman Dylan Samberg, who suffered a high-ankle sprain in training camp, took the next step in his recovery on Tuesday by joining the Jets on the ice for morning skate. He was in a yellow non-contact jersey and will look to eventually shed that before ultimately getting re-assigned to the Manitoba Moose, where he’s expected to play a big role.

The 22-year-old is looking to build on a strong rookie season in which he had seven points (one goal, six assists) in 32 AHL games last year.

“Now it’s just getting stronger enough so that he feels he can take a hit,” said Maurice.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @mikemcintyrewpg