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Should there be goalie concerns despite the OT win?

January 13, 2019, 9:51 PM ET [33 Comments]
Peter Tessier
Winnipeg Jets Blogger •Winnipeg Jets Writer • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Okay this is not going to be some rip a player apart blog or attacking a person but at what point does the alarm bell go off for the fanbase around Connor Hellebuyck's play?

There I said it.

It does not matter that the Jets are first in the Central or third in the conference. They have only just barely beat a team on a 10-game long streak, another (Colorado) that is 1-7-2 and Detroit (2-6-2). Aside from Colorado they have failed to beat both Flames and Wild (twice) in recent games both of which are peers and challengers to the Central and West. I haven't even gotten in to the 4-0 loss to the Penguins. This does not rest on Connor Hellebuyck's shoulders but he's been a weak link and it seams that more often than not there's a soft goal against him and the game against Anaheim was no different.

The goal I refer to is Cogliano's. One that should have been stopped based on the type of shot and the position. This is the kind of thing that happens too often this season with Hellebuyck. It's not that he's not making saves but he's nowhere near where he was last year currently with a .907 save percent before tonight's game- 23rd in the league.

The Jets won so all is forgiven right? That should not be the case but for many it is. The end result justifies the means to get there far too often but that should not be the case with the Jets right now.

Yes there are injuries to key players in Byfuglien, Ehlers and now Myers and even before then the defense was having challenges with the play around and in front of Hellebuyck. But something is different for the goalie this year.

Eye-test suggests he might be sitting back in his crease to far at times but does that change explain the goal tonight? Other observations have come from his body movement with the new goalie equipment and he hasn't fully adjusted to it yet. There's merit to that point and earlier in the season Hellebuyck did comment on the new equipment. Is there a breakdown in the system where between himself and the defense the communication is getting lost?

I'm not sure what the answer is but given the amount of games the Jets have had to win in OT or the ones where they can't score 4 goals does more responsibility fall onto the goalies? Consider that of the 29 wins the Jets have only 6 of them have come by scoring 3 goals or less and the last one was a 1-0 win over Vancouver on December 22nd.

Now look at the losses, in the 14 regulation or OT loses the Jets have they have only only scored 3 goals twice and never lost scoring more than that. In there last 5 losses they have given up 18 goals and scored 5. The 5 before that, allowed 19 and scored 10. The remaining 4 to start- allowed 15 and scored 5. All of those losses are on Hellebuyck's record except one, a game where Brossoit came in after an early change in November vs Calgary.

This is not a Brossoit vs Hellebuyck debate it's a perspective moment on a goalie who signed a 6 year deal after an incredible season for both team and player last year. Now the team is having roughly the same results as last year by standings but the goalie sure as heck isn't imagine if Brossoit was .500 in wins as most backups would hope to be? The Jets drop 10 points and are either 3rd in the Central or battling for a wild card spot.

Look, I said it on Twitter and I'll say it here. The toe/pad save Hellebuyck made in OT was the game-changer and gave them chance to come back and win but should these games, particularly ones against Anaheim go that far? Not with this fire power and not with the expectations that a long-deal come with and those are real and come with spectacular weight.

There are many possible reasons for the the drop in play but now, 5 games past the halfway point of the season there's good reason to wonder 'if' this changes and not 'when'.

Yes I'm the Debbie Downer have a huge OT win but this issue (if you wan to call it that) with Hellebuyck is something that keeps eating away at me. I can't unsee it or pretend it's not there and I think more many within the fanbase the results are clouding an honest view of the situation.

So talk me off the ledge then. I'm open to being wrong but I can't see it any other way no matter how hard I try.
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