The Winnipeg Jets have been playing great lately, but have had one flaw stick out blatantly to anyone watching. It’s the weak goaltending.
It wasn’t even six months ago that Connor Hellebuyck was carrying the Winnipeg Jets deep in the playoffs, while competing for the Vezina trophy. Now, fast forward those six months, and Connor Hellebuyck is struggling to keep his head above water.
The Jets have found themselves in a few high scoring games lately, which our goalies have been lucky to come away with wins. Take our game tonight against the Chicago Blackhawks as an example. We found ourselves scoring goals early on, but we were also letting up goals from the start. Connor Hellebuyck didn’t have just one, but a few goals he’d like to have back.
It’s not good when we’re scoring upwards of five goals in a game, but are still finishing off very tight. It’s not like they were good goals, either. Hellebuyck should have had AT LEAST three of the five he let up.
But wait, before we go to far, don’t put all the blame on him. Of course we can all see he’s struggling, however not everything is to be blamed on him. One of those things would be an unstoppable goal, such as the one scored by Artem Anisimov tonight.
Jacob Trouba should be held accountable for that one, after he let the Blackhawks player put the puck between his legs, giving them a 3-on-1 rush against Josh Morrissey. Tic-tac-toe, the puck goes top shelf, lighting the lamp on Hellebuyck. Those kind of goals shouldn’t be blamed on the tendies.
The main issue here is what Connor was able to eliminate last year, but has crept back up on him this season. It’s him letting in weak goals. It’s something he’s going to have to figure out again, or else he’ll end up being a mediocre goaltender, like we’ve seen in the past with Ondrej Pavelec.