The Winnipeg Jets didn’t start off their three game road trip perfectly, but they did come away with two points. And then four more in the next two games.
The Winnipeg Jets looked to be on shaky ground before this road trip. Then they opened it up by blowing a 3-1 lead (which is the most dangerous lead, you know) to the DEVILS with less than five minutes remaining.
It came with Laurent Brossoit in net, who, uh, hadn’t been blowing leads like Connor Hellebuyck. It could happen to anyone, I guess (more on that later). Either way, Mark Scheifele came up big in OT and the Jets walked away with two points.
But forgive me if I wasn’t feeling confident. I decided to blame Hellebuyck less (and thus had less faith in him improving with regained confidence), seeing Brossoit blow a lead, too.
The defense is not helping, and Dustin Byfuglien‘s injury complicates things. Josh Morrissey is playing about six minutes a night more than usual, as well. Two straight OT games don’t help. Nor does Morrissey’s injury, although it seems to be minor.
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He joins Byfuglien, Dmitry Kulikov and Joseph Morrow among the injured blueliners. They’re all on IR.
The defense still needs to be fixed, and I’m sure the Jets know that. Buff won’t fix everything when he comes back. The forward group is to blame, too, in their own end.
But Winnipeg went out the next night and took a deficit of three goals into the third against the Rangers. They were outshooting them 24-11 at the time, finishing up 42-19 in SOG. But Henrik Lundqvist didn’t look beatable that night.
And then he Connor Hellebuycked. The Jets tied it up with three goals in the third, survived OT and won in the shootout. Not Helly’s best game, but they won in a shootout. Can’t be too mad at him.
Then they went through two periods scoreless against the Isles before going down 1-0. Three unanswered goals again in the third for the Jets ensured they would go home with a perfect road trip.
Six points in three games, and I don’t care that they let the other teams get a point in OT in two of them. The Rangers and Devils aren’t even in the West, let alone the Central division. Who cares.
It was a rough starting road trip that now has Winnipeg looking poised to take off. They’re now three points down of Nashville, and just one of Colorado. And they have played one fewer game.
Oh, also, their next four games are at home. Against St. Louis, Philly, Chicago and Edmonton. And then they play Chicago on the road. A stretch where all five games should see the Jets favored.
This is the schedule you want to see when you’re dealing with injuries. I’d even let Morrissey sit out the game against St. Louis as a precaution. Out of 12 remaining games this month, only the tilts with Tampa, Calgary, Minnesota and San Jose seem worrisome. And only San Jose is on the road.
Things change fast in the NHL. As we were getting into December, I was not confident about the Winnipeg Jets. But after blowing that lead, they made an incredible comeback and then a less impressive but still cool comeback. With Hellebuyck in the net.
This team found a way to win two close games. Gotta be good for everyone’s confidence. Yes, there are issues to fix. And the injuries to the defense are a big blow. But if they can hang on the upper-tier until the deadline, I’m sure Kevin Cheveldayoff will get them some help.
Until then, just win baby.