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Hellebuyck bounce back give Jets 3-1 series lead

April 17, 2018, 11:30 PM ET [55 Comments]
Peter Tessier
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • RSSArchiveCONTACT
You can say that the Jets won because Connor Hellebuyck had another bounce back game after a poor loss but atet would be minimizing the effort of 18 other players on the Jets roster. Hellebuyck becomes the first goalie in the Thrashers/Jets history to have a playoff shutout and it just puts the exclamation mark on a Vezina nominee season for the goalie. When asked about the play of Hellebuyck and if the Jets learned him anything about him Maurice replied in dry style, "We didn't learn anything about him".

The elephant in the room is the cross check by Josh Morrissey on Staal. It was rough it was harsh and according to Morrissey it was entirely accidental. Post game he went to great length to explain that it was accidental and that he felt terrible. Paul Maurice did not see too much wrong with Morrissey's explanation and said "He's about as clean a player as we have," when asked.

Bruce Boudreau was still livid when asked post-game and offer up this take, "The refs looked at and the refs decided not to call it because we were on the PP. It cost us the game".

That's a pretty bold statement and while the play was certainly a penalty it's not the first one to be missed in this series. Paul Maurice was asked if he expected to hear from the league and he replied, "Didn't hear from the league on the two prior," in the calm voice.

It was easy for Maurice to be calm he came out with a 2-0 win and a 3-1 series lead with two goals from Mark Scheifele. This after Boudreau had said that Scheifele would not score from that spot again, referring to the game one PP goal. That's bold Bruce because he did it to you twice tonight.

The Jets skated faster and and better tonight and pushed the play even if the fell behind on the shots they never gave up. In the end they Jets out-attempted the Wild at even strength and in all situation still had more attempts but were down by two shots. It was mechanical for the Jets. Their gap control was superb and Maurice said "We didn't give them a whole lot of ice tonight," when asked about it.

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His counterpart was seeing similar things and said, "There wasn't a lot of room in the third period for us," when he was talking about the game. But Boudreau knows there's a bigger issue too and that's because there is no one stepping up and taking a lead for his team. He even mentioned it directly too, "It's pretty obvious some one has to step up," he answered during his presser. Is that a warning to his players, a challenge or simply a desperate message to find some one willing to do something?

The mechanics of it all favor the Jets and while Hellebuyck had to be spectacular at times he also did not have to be as worried as Devan Dubnyk either, the Wild simply did not get enough on net or at him. Is there bad blood here, sure and it will continue on Friday night in Winnipeg but right now the Jets have to feel the end of this series is near and the Wild likely feel the same.

Admit it they never will but without Suter, and now without Parise it won't matter how well they play the Jets are out gunning them and out playing them in a way that is very frustrating- disciplined, dedicated and focussed hockey. You know who is leading that play- Dustin Byfugien, go figure but more on that in another article.
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