The Winnipeg jets have picked up win No. 13 of the young season
The cheers at the end were deafening.
Despite questionable (at best) officiating and a relentless attack by the Colorado Avalanche, the Winnipeg Jets improved to 13-1-0 in what has become a fairy tale beginning to the 2024-25 season.
Behind the brilliance of Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Connor Hellebuyck, the Jets held on to beat the Avalanche 1-0 in front of 12,900 at Canada Life Centre. It was Winnipeg’s fifth straight win.
“It feels incredible right now,” said Hellebuyck as the Jets became the second team in NHL history to win 13 of its first 14 games to start a season.
"It felt like a hard fought game against a division rival. Those games are always hard. I thought the guys responded well.”
Thursday night’s win was Hellebuyck’s second consecutive shutout, but this one was much more impressive than his 3-0 shutout over the Utah Hockey Club on Tuesday night. In this one, the Jets beat a very big, fast, talented Avalanche team in a game in which they were outshot the Jets were outshot 34-28, 16-4 in the third period.
“Never, probably college," he said on the last time he put up back-to-back clean sheets. "I had a good amount of shutouts in college. I’ve been waiting for an opportunity like this. Just a perfect storm.”
The only goal of the night came quickly. And it was a beauty. Mark Scheifele came upon a loose puck in the neutral zone and on a two-on-one with Gabriel Vilardi made a perfect crossing pass to his winger who easily beat Avs goalie Alexander Georgiev to give the Jets a 1-0 advantage just 1:06 into the contest.
From that point on, the first 20 minutes was a track meet. End-to-end rushes highlighted the rest of the opening period as both Georgiev and the Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck were called on to make some terrific saves. The Jets outshot Colorado 15-9 and had the better chances, as well.
In the second period, there was no scoring, but it was a sensational period. The Jets had chances early and late, but in the middle, Nathan McKinnon took over the game and the puck was almost exclusively in the Jets end when McKinnon’s line was on the ice.
However, the Jets have a goalie – a great goalie – and while the Avs had some terrific chances, Hellebuyck was equal to the task. Colorado and Winnipeg each delivered nine shots on goal, but both goaltenders were rock solid.
So, it was 1-0 Winnipeg heading into the third in a fast-paced game that could go either way. The first two periods had been worth every penny of the admission price.
In the third period, it was all Colorado. The Avs came out flying while the Jets were caught flat-footed on more than one occasion. In fact, the Avs outshot Winnipeg 9-1 through the first eight minutes and 11-2 through the first 12 minutes and were it not for Hellebuyck, this might have been a blowout.
However, the best goalie in the game made save-after-save, some of them highlight-reel stops, as the Jets held on to their 1-0 advantage despite playing four-against-six in the final 1:10 of the third period.
"We got two points," head coach Scott Arniel said. "I mean we're here in November. If we're sitting in February, March, April, we're probably not very happy about it. We found a way to win the hockey game. We had a good first period. After that, we were downhill. Those guys all know that. I didn't have to say much. They all knew that. Helle put on a performance and got the two points. On to the next one."
In a period in which plenty of penalties could have been called, the officials decided to send off Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey for holding crybaby Avs forward Mikko Rantanen. Rantanen had been grinding the officials all night and it eventually paid off as the Avalanche were given a man-advantage with the goalie out and just over a minute to play.
Despite two or three glorious chances -- one after Rantanen obviously tripped a Jets player in front of Hellebuyck, which opened up a point-blank shot for MacKinnon – the Jets netminder was simply the superior weapon on this night.
Hellebuyck lowered his goals against average to 2.00 and raised his save percentage to .928 as he recorded his third shutout in 11 starts this season and was named the game’s first star. Georgiev was the second star and Vilardi was the third.
The first place Jets, who have 26 points in 14 games, will play again on Saturday afternoon at Canada Life Centre against the equally-talented Dallas Stars. Game time is 2 p.m. CST.
Extended photo gallery by Scott Stroh:
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