Connor Hellebuyck. That's it. That's the story.
Sure, Mark Scheifele scored two goals. Sure, Kyle Connor had a goal and two assists. Sure Mason Appleton had a pair of assists. And sure, Josh Morrissey set the Jets record for points by a defenceman in a single season -- with 25 games remaining on the schedule.
But while all of that was interesting and commendable, it was the Jets 29-year-old former Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender, Connor Hellebuyck, who made 50 saves and led the Jets to a 4-1 upset of the New York Rangers.
Outshot 51-21 by the Rangers at Madison Square Garden on Monday night, the Jets were outplayed and outworked by the heavily-favoured Blueshirts. But with Hellebuyck at his very best, the Jets were able to win their 35th game of the season and put the breaks on a two-game losing streak.
It was a performance for ages.
Hellebuyck made 20 saves in the first period as the Jets built a 2-0 lead. He made 11-of-12 in the second as Winnipeg escaped 40 minutes with a 3-1 advantage. And then he stopped all 19 shots he faced in the third as Winnipeg recorded the win. The Jets are now 35-21-1 on the season, second in the Central Division, just one point behind first-place Dallas.
"That was a pretty special effort by our goaltender tonight," Jets head coach Rick Bowness told reporters in New York. "He made some timely saves when we needed them most and especially after we made mistakes with our puck management. He was very, very good tonight."
Bowness has always been understated. But that was the Google definition of understatement. Hellebuyck not only made 50 saves but he also stopped the Rangers 10-game points streak, did it in the media capital of U.S. hockey and did it with the man most Eastern hockey experts call "the best goalie in the game," in the opposite net. In fact, Hellebuyck and the Jets made the great Russian oligarch, Igor Shesterkin, look like an ECHL call-up. In the end, Shesterkin made 17 saves and looked ordinary, at best.
Pierre-Luc Dubois made it 1-0 for the Jets on the power play at 5:12 of the first period when a blast from the point by Morrissey went off Dubois and past Shesterkin. With the primary assist, Morrissey set the Jets/Atlanta Thrashers record for points by a defenceman in a season, passing Dustin Byfuglien, who had 56 in 2013-14.
With a pair of assists on the night, Morrissey now has 58 points (11 goals and 47 assists) in 57 games this season.
Scheifele made it 2-0 at 16:32, jabbing in a rebound in the crease after Shesterkin, the superstar, mishandled a shot from Kyle Connor. The Jets had a two-goal lead after one.
Connor made it 3-0 at the 6:04 mark of the second period with a quick shot from the left circle and while Victor Trocheck cut it to 3-1 at 11:00, that's all Hellebuyck would allow.
Scheifele's 34th goal of the season came at 15:29 of the third period and that put it on ice. Hellebuyck wasn't going to allow the Rangers a sniff of his team's net.
The three stars were Hellebuyck, Connor and Scheifele but there was really only one. Hellebuyck was the King of New York on Monday night.
To be fair, Connor did have the best stats line of the evening. He had a goal and two assists and was plus two with five shots, a hit and a takeaway in 16 minutes and 49 seconds of ice time. Morrissey was also plus-two on the evening.
The Rangers won 54 per cent of the face-offs and outhit the Jets 20-19, but they were zero-for-four on the power play (the Jets were one-for-one) as another officiating homer-job (my goodness, NHL officiating is a total embarrassment to the sport) also helped the Rangers amass 51 shots-on-goal.
"I always feel better in the second half of the season, I had some rest and tonight was a perfect storm," said Hellebuyck. "I'm exhausted so I have to take care of the body and get set for the next one."
The next one is Wednesday night against the New York Islanders at the UBS Arena in Belmont Park, N.Y.
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