Jets offence comes back to life in Hellebuyck’s return

You could say that Connor Hellebuyck took matters into his own hands and the power of healing allowed him to do so.

A cursory glance at the scoring summary suggests all the Winnipeg Jets needed was for their All-World goalie to return to action after missing three weeks with a knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery.

The reality was that while Hellebuyck’s presence was most definitely welcome, the No. 1 netminder wasn’t exactly forced to put the team on his back in what turned out to be a 5-1 victory over the Washington Capitals on Saturday night at Canada Life Centre that snapped a three-game losing streak.

The Jets were sound defensively — limiting the number of dangerous scoring chances against — and had ample secondary scoring while also getting a power play goal.

Hellebuyck took care of the rest, making 24 saves in his first game action since Nov. 16 against the Calgary Flames.

“It’s been a grind. It’s been tough. Just top to bottom, everyone worked so hard, so that’s why we got back early,” said Hellebuyck. “I mean, it’s hard for me to put that into words because I’m just doing my job back there. This core has just been together for so long and I’ve been very grateful to play a lot of games. You just have a way of playing with this core. We just meshed a certain way. Getting back in there feels great and I just felt like I hadn’t missed any time.”

The Jets were highly secretive when it came to whether or not Hellebuyck would actually return to action on Saturday night against the Capitals, but the fact he’d ramped up his workload during the previous three days was a pretty good indicator he was ahead of schedule in his recovery.

There’s no way the Jets would have rushed him back if he wasn’t fully healthy.

As it turns out, Hellebuyck is simply a quick healer and that’s why he went out of his way to thank everyone who helped him get back right on his schedule — even if the timeline provided was between four-to-six weeks.

“I said on Day one that it was going to take me three weeks,” said Hellebuyck. “I know I’ve got a great team around me and I know how hard I was going to work. It was a lot of hours and a lot of dialling some things in and making sure I didn’t take any steps back.

“Every day I was taking big steps forward.”

You can’t deny the impact of Hellebuyck, but he wasn’t the sole reason the Jets got back to their winning ways.

The Jets had been pretty leaky defensively during Hellebuyck’s absence, allowing 16 goals during the three-game losing skid that preceded Saturday’s win.

The attention to detail that had been lacking was on full display in this one.

“It was 20 guys. That was complete, throughout the lineup, all four lines looking a lot alike,” said Jets head coach Scott Arniel. “The D were real solid. Obviously, (Hellebuyck) was good when it had to be, but that was one of the best, most complete games of the year.”

The Jets close out a four-game homestand on Monday against Brady Tkachuk and the Ottawa Senators.

Let’s take a closer look at what transpired:

The tribute

The Jets honoured forward Nino Niederreiter for playing his 1,000th NHL games with a tribute that featured messages from current and former teammates, family members, dignitaries that included the president of Switzerland, a Michelin Star chef and tennis legend Roger Federer.

Niederreiter was emotional when discussing the words that were spoken.

“It was something I will never forget,” said Niederreiter, who was originally chosen fifth overall by the New York Islanders in the 2010 NHL Draft and also spent time with the Minnesota Wild, Carolina Hurricanes and Nashville Predators. “As a little boy, you dream about moments like this and to top it off with a win like that was amazing.”

Niederreiter was surrounded by his parents when he was presented with the silver stick.

“I mean, they’re the reason why I’m here. Obviously, the whole support they gave me right in the beginning, coming from a hard working class family,” said Niederreiter. “It’s tough to play hockey in Switzerland. It’s an expensive sport. So I mean, the commitment they (made), they sacrificed a lot of their free time to make sure I can play hockey. So it’s definitely a big thanks to them.”

You get a goal, you get a goal, you get a goal

Both Morgan Barron and Alex Iafallo have scored in consecutive games after enduring extended slumps and Logan Stanley has as many goals this season as he had in his previous five seasons in the NHL.

Barron is up to five goals for the season after his backhand redirection in the first period, while Iafallo caught a break when his pass in front for Barron caromed into the net off the stick of Capitals centre Justin Sourdif.

Meanwhile, Stanley showed off his hand-eye co-ordination by batting a puck out of the air after Josh Morrissey’s point shot bounced off the end boards.

After scoring once in each of the past five seasons, Stanley has clearly taken his offensive game to a new level.

Gabe Vilardi chipped in a pair of goals — one on the power play and one at even strength — to round out the scoring after he was reunited on the top line with Mark Scheifele and Kyle Connor.

Vilardi is up to 16 goals on the season, which leaves him tied with Scheifele for the team lead, one ahead of Connor.

The key play

When Connor Hellebuyck led the Jets out of the tunnel for the pre-game warmup, a sense of calm seemed to be restored and the Jets responded by playing their best defensive game of the season.

The three stars

Gabe Vilardi, Scored two goals

Connor Hellebuyck, Jets, Made 24 saves.

Josh Morrissey, Jets, Chipped in two assists.

The interested observer

Team Canada general manager Don Sweeney was among those in attendance that was paying close attention, given the number of potential Olympians in the lineup for both teams.

The Jets’ candidates, Morrissey and Scheifele, both showed well and chipped in a pair of assists.

Capitals defenceman Jakob Chychrun broke up the shutout bid, blasting home a one-timer with 17 seconds to go in a two-man advantage.

Capitals forward Tom Wilson wasn’t as noticeable as normal, but did drive to the net to draw a penalty that helped lead to the power play goal and finished with two shots on goal, one hit and two blocked shots.

Extra, extra

By chipping in an assist on a goal during the first period, Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey hit 400 points in his 693rd NHL game. Morrissey added another assist to give him five goals and 28 points in 31 games this season.

The Jets healthy scratches were goalie Domenic DiVincentiis, defenceman Colin Miller and forward Tanner Pearson.

The Capitals scratches included Winnipegger Dylan McIlrath and former Jets blue-liner Declan Chisholm.

winnipegfreepress.com/kenwiebe