It was a hard fought battle last night for both these teams and if you read the piece from yesterday you would know that the Bruins and Jets are similar enough to have created that game. What ended up happening was that the teams got in a battle that neither probably wanted after Josh Morrissey took a five minute major for boarding.
It was an ugly hit and while no one would accuse the Bruins of having a reputation of being Saints, Jets fans have to be honest in that Morrissey stepped way over the line. The outcry from some Boston media though was more than enough to make many Jets fans care less about the severity of the hit.
The other unexpected event was the Tanev hat trick- who saw that coming? The guy has taken a lot of heat for a few years some deserved and some not but his timing last night could not have been better.
Things were tense last night and if you noticed after Laine scored in the shoot out he played a little guitar or violin as he went past the Bruins bench.
Leave it to Laine to get the game winning shootout goal! @PatrikLaine29
— X - Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) March 28, 2018
For highlights of tonight's game, visit: https://t.co/X1DnAbyTmI pic.twitter.com/K3UDMFdUZO
Enough about that though, it’s over and hopefully Morrissey escapes with only the time served last night.
The Jets have been a dominant team for the past 25 games while playing at 5 vs 5 and this tweet explains it well.
Last 25 games played the jets rank the following at adjusted 5vs5 play:
— x-why jets why (@Tony_MBHKY) March 28, 2018
1st- CF%
2nd- FF%
1st- GF%
1st- xGF%
But there’s another aspect that should be concerning to Jets fans as the playoffs near, is Connor Hellebuyck playing as well as Connor Hellebuyck has this season?
If we look back over the past 25 games as noted above the Jets’ goalie has a save percentage of .919 which is below his season average of .923. In that time span he’s had 2 shut outs and one shutout in relief. However he has had 10 game where his save percent is .10 or more lower than his season average.
There’s nothing to be too alarmist over with Hellebuyck, he’s still a good goalie but there are some goals he’s allowing that are probably ones he would like back and that seems tone happening with a bit more frequency. Call it poor quality goals against. This is not a fundamental flaw for Hellebuyck, but it might be an indication of tiredness coming into play.
Hellebuyck’s workload has increased significantly since he came into the league in 2015-16 season where he played 26 games. Last season he was up to 56 and now he sits at 63 games with 6 games left to playing the regular season. With Steve Mason getting healthy and Hutchison now on the Moose should the Jets rely more on Comrie down the final run?
Comire will play in Chicago on Thursday which means Hellebuyck likely stars against Toronto on Saturday night but after that would it not be wise to play Comrie in one if not two of the back-to-back games against Ottawa and Montreal. Hellebuyck could have almost a week off to play in either the last two remaining games against Calgary and Chicago. If Mason is healthy then getting him some action might be smart in that time period too. The logic behind resting Hellebuyck is simply for rest and mental focus too. His challenges are not technical as much as possibly fatigue related physically and mentally.
The Jets have a legitimate chance to make a playoff run but they are still thin on experience and that can be a blessing and a curse. Regardless of their goal scoring abilities, they have scored the most goals in the west and only trail Tampa and Toronto in the East, it’s the goals against that has helped them the most.
The Jets have allowed 200 goals against so far this season for 5th best in the NHL. Last year in 82 games they allowed 256 in 82 games, 27th best. If their trend holds with six games remaining they will finished with 216 goals allowed and that would put them at 12th last season. The fact that goaltending along with some significant roster changes has helped the Jets to this new level of success should not be overlooked. Thus maintaining that level of play between the pipes is paramount and Paul Maurice should be very cautious down the stretch with his number one goalie, making sure his head as well as his body is ready for the next grind.