There was a lot of doom and gloom the first few days of the NHL season after the Jets game up 13 goals in their first two games. Since then they have allowed five goals in three games after changing goalies from Steve Mason to Connor Hellebuyck.
Dustin Byfuglien was held out of two of those three games with a tender groin which was something he aggravated during training camp and preseason. Some would suggest that this was a strategic move by Maurice after big Buff played rather poorly in the first two games. In fact it may have been a very well-timed coincidence whilst the Jets were on the road and not at home for even more scrutiny.
The biggest change might have been the Jets adhering to a system that allowed Hellebuyck to not second guess himself while doing what he's paid to do- stop pucks.
Now there has been plenty of studying done on the effect of players influencing save percentage. Some believe the work while others still believe there's some aspects of intangibles that affect save percentage too. The recent piece by Tyler Dellow from The Athletic and the on-ice save percentage of Byfuglien is an interesting read.
The biggest change in the last three games may be systems related and if you look on the shot/goal heat maps from Naturalstattrick.com you can see there is a distinct difference in where the Jets allowed shots from. The defensive effort pushed shots and chances away from the net and further out. The Carolina game was particularly noticeable for how well the Jets contained the shots and allowed them from further out.
If you can recall a quote from Kevin Cheveldayoff from last season he spoke about the save percentage of Connor Hellebuyck in relation to Ondrej Pavelec and how the former stops far more unscreened shots than the latter. It appears the Jets are testing that theory by doing whatever they can to push the shot distance back for their goalie.
Another story that is very 'hot' in Winnipeg is the play of Nik Ehlers. The recent contract extension has done nothing to slow down the third year player who has 5 goals and 2 assists in the first five games played. The young Dane has been nothing but a joy to watch play and a pain to play against. He is easily the most competent puck carrier on the Jets when entering the offensive zone and he can accelerate in with confidence in almost every situation. Knowing the Jets have him for seven more season after this one should be a very soothing thought for fans.
Don't think that Connor Hellebuyck's play is not without notice. Since he first started in Edmonton he's been lights out. He's sporting a .942 5v5 save percentage and in all situations a .936 percentage. Neither of these is sustainable long term but if they regress to a .920 for all situations that will be the best the Jets have ever had and should go a long way to helping be a better team than in previous years.
There should be some praise for the defence who have received scorn and and venom in this space and others. The systems execution and reads were atrocious the first two games and while they gave up a lot of shots against Edmonton the effort 'contained' those shots to a better, safer space.
It would appear that Jacob Trouba is being relied on heavily again to be more of a rounded player than any other of the D-corps. While he trails a bit from positive possession territory he has contributed to the ever-important High Danger Scoring Chances per 60 whilst giving up the least per 60 minutes. Right next to Trouba is rookie Tucker Poolman. The Jets and their fans should be very impressed with Poolman after the two games he has played and some would hope that he will see the ice again soon.
In the game against Carolina both Perreault and Kulikov were injured and did not return. It would seem obvious that Poolman would get the opportunity to play again given he is a LHD but what about the forward group? Kyle Connor has been lighting the AHL up since the season began and would it make sense to bring up his skill and play to take a look at during the game again Columbus tomorrow night? Updates are expected on the condition of each player today.
If Jets fans had a choice they would not have had to endure the pain of the first two games however an early wake up call may be exactly what this team has needed and not had in the past. The challenge now is consistency, and that again has been a point of weakness for the Jets over the years, tomorrow's game against Columbus will present a chance to see if there really is a grasp of how much is required to win consistently- that also goes for the coaching staff as well.