Hellebuyck holding his head high

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This article was published 13/11/2023 (691 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Connor Hellebuyck is trying to remain calm, cool and collected, even if the start to his NHL season — at least from a statistical standpoint — may not be as sharp as he’d like.

A 2.98 goals-against-average and .892 save-percentage aren’t what you’d expect from the three-time Vezina Trophy finalist, who signed a seven-year contract extension with the Winnipeg Jets prior to training camp.

“You can’t let yourself spiral downward,” Hellebuyck, speaking after Monday’s practice, said of his current mindset.

“What I’m looking for in my game right now is stealing a few more goals and then the stats will hopefully just come. We’re obviously playing a different way. We’re playing really good defensive hockey and I’m not getting as many filler shots. So if you’re just looking at stats, ‘Oh, his season is bad.’ No. My game is right, my details are great. My movement is great. I’m just going to build on what I have and try and be patient.”

Hellebuyck, who is 6-4-1 in his 11 starts, will get another shot on Tuesday night as his team hosts the New Jersey Devils. The visitors are expected to be without Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier due to injury.

“You can’t let bad things really bring you down. If I go in here and I’m not very confident and not feeling myself, everyone is going to know it right away. And that’s when things really spiral and that’s when your game starts changing,” said Hellebuyck.

“I don’t want that. My game is good right now. I just got to be mentally strong right now. I’m confident, my game is right. I’m watching all of my details. Everything is right. I just got to be patient for things to come.”

Associate coach Scott Arniel said he’s starting to see the Hellebuyck of old in recent games.

“You know, he got off to a slow start but at the end of the day now he’s back to being what he is,” he said.

“He’s an elite goaltender in this league who gives you a chance to win every night. You’re going to have breakdowns, you’re going to make mistakes. And he’s usually there to bail you out. And when that happens it builds confidence to our group. They don’t want to let him down by giving up those Grade As but he gives us a chance to win every night. And every coach and teammate, that’s all you ever ask for.”

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There are no concerns these days about Kyle Connor, who was named the NHL’s second star of the week on Monday. The Michigan product had five goals and three assists in three games and is already up to 11 goals through 14 games this year.

Connor scored a career-high 47 in the 2021-22 season, but then struggled (by his lofty standards) to just 31 last year. He’s currently on a line with Mark Scheifele and Alex Iafallo.

Sam Reinhart of the Florida Panthers (three goals, seven assists in four games) was named the first star, while William Nylander of the Toronto Maple Leafs (four goals, three assists in four games) was the third star.

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Jets forward Gabriel Vilardi once again skated on his own Monday as he works his way back from a sprained MCL. Tuesday marks exactly four weeks since he suffered the injury, which carried an approximate recovery time of four-to-six weeks.

“There’s talk of maybe when we get on the Tampa trip (next week) of him maybe getting into our practice,” Arniel said of the next steps.

“That will be the big thing, getting accustomed to the brace. Just sort of the feel of that. Obviously his conditioning is a big part of it now. He’ll go into probably an off-coloured jersey for a couple practices and see how it is with all his teammates and kind of running into people a little bit, and then we’ll go from there.”

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It was a tough couple days for Winnipeg’s farm team, the Manitoba Moose. After getting thumped 6-2 by the Laval Rocket on Sunday afternoon at Canada Life Centre, the AHL club fell 5-2 in a Monday morning game witnessed by nearly 7,000 mostly school-aged fans.

Thomas Milic made his first AHL start and stopped 26 of 31 shots. The 2023 fifth-round draft pick, who is the reigning Western Hockey League goaltender of the year, was called up last week from the Norfolk Admirals of the ECHL after Collin Delia suffered a minor injury.

Milic came on in relief Sunday of Oskari Salminen, who was pulled after giving up four goals on 15 shots, and stopped 20 of 22.

Jeff Malott had both goals Sunday, but was suspended for Monday’s contest after he left the bench to participate in a scrum at the final buzzer. Wyatt Bongiovanni and Ashton Sautner scored on Monday.

Defenceman Declan Chisholm played in both games after being sent down by the Jets on a two-week conditioning assignment. Forward Chaz Lucius also returned from a concussion that had kept him out of action for the past three weeks.

Manitoba has now lost four straight games to fall to 4-6-0 on the year. They return to action this weekend, playing Friday night in Belleville and then Saturday and Sunday in Toronto against the Marlies.

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The NHL coaching fraternity is tight-knit, so Arniel had a few words on Monday for Jay Woodcroft, who along with assistant coach Dave Manson were fired on Sunday by the Edmonton Oilers.

“When it happens it’s one of the hardest things that will ever happen to you,” said Arniel.

“But I got great advice way back when, somebody told me you’re gonna get fired and you’re gonna hate it, but it’ll be the best thing you ever learn. I don’t ever wish that on anybody and you hate to see it, you want to have success, you want coaches to have success. It’s part of the business, though. He’ll end up on his feet. They both will. It’s just tough time for coaches when you see that.”

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg