Hellebuyck preaching positivity as Jets try to dig out of big hole

LAS VEGAS -- That Connor Hellebuyck likes his game and likes his team was about as on brand as one would expect.

It’s quite simply how the Winnipeg Jets goaltender likes to roll.

Hellebuyck has always made a habit of ensuring that the power of positivity is flowing, even when the circumstances seem dire to plenty of other observers.

Prior to boarding the plane bound for Sin City, with his team down 3-1 to the top-seeded Vegas Golden Knights, Hellebuyck spent roughly five minutes assessing where things are at and what must change for this group to keep its season alive when the series resumes on Thursday at T-Mobile Arena.

“At this point, you just take it one game at a time. We don't need three,” Hellebuyck told reporters Tuesday. “We need one and we'll go from there. I like our team. I like how we're playing. A bounce here, a bounce there and things can go well.

“We haven't had good luck so far. We've been playing pretty good though, despite all of our adversity. Now, we have to make sure our heads are right and know we're in for the grind and we're not out yet.”

Before things wrapped up, Hellebuck got a bit annoyed by a question about how tall the task actually is after some evidence was presented to him -- teams that are up 3-1 have won 299 times and allowed a comeback only 31 times.

“You want to throw league stats at me?” Hellebuyck asked rhetorically, the look on his face and the subsequent chuckle before providing his full answer a clear indicator of his feelings. “I don’t want to talk about that at all. What I’ll say is we have a lot of character. We’ve had a lot of adversity in our room.

“I think we have the character in our room to do something special and to do something great. And like we said, we’re looking for one game. We need one game and we’ll move on to the next one and we’ll prepare the same way.”

Hellebuyck knows exactly what’s going to be required to keep the season alive, even if he left that part of the equation unsaid.

He’s going to need to put on the Superman cape and hope that he gets a bit more run support.

The raw numbers haven’t been pretty to date -- an .895 save percentage and 3.21 goals-against average are well below the season totals (.920 and 2.49) -- but that’s got more to do with the small sample size (four games) than any real struggles.

"I've been getting pretty unlucky, I'll tell you that,” said Hellebuyck. “Some good tips. Some random tips. Some bounces off our own guys. Screens. Some random bounces off me. I don't think I've got a post hit behind me, so that would be nice to get. Kind of look at the other end, I think we've hit about eight or 10 posts. You’ve got to imagine this is all going to kind of switch, and when it does, it's going to go really well from there." 

It is relevant to ponder whether or not the heavy workload Hellebuyck was forced to carry down the stretch could be catching up with him.

By making 13 consecutive starts to help push the Jets into the playoffs as the eighth seed in the Western Conference, Hellebuyck -- who led the league with 64 starts -- might be running on fumes right now.

That’s where the two-day break between Games 4 and 5 could offer an opportunity for him to refill the tank a little bit.

Hellebuyck has clearly been the busier goalie in this series -- which is no surprise given the commitment to the defensive structure the Golden Knights play -- and while he hasn’t allowed a bunch of softies, he has yet to steal a game.

That’s the thing, Hellebuyck is the clear-cut MVP on his team, the player most referred to as the backbone of the club.

With injuries to overcome and several other key cogs still waiting to get going offensively, Hellebuyck needs to deliver another virtuoso performance like the one against the Minnesota Wild that allowed the Jets to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

“Goaltending is a matter of inches and those inches count so much,” said Hellebuyck, who is currently 19th among goalies with minus-2.8 goals saved above expected during the post-season. “When you see the other end, things just hit the guy and stick to the guy. Post after post. And when you feel so good about your game and you're just waiting for stuff to happen to yourself. You asked at the beginning of the series how I thought it was going to go. With how my game's been and how I feel, I would not expect the results to be the way they are. That being said, we're inches away from really flipping the script on this.

“It’s a bounce here, a bounce there. And we’re not asking for a ton, we’re asking for one a game. That’s all we need. We haven’t gotten it yet, and you’d imagine it would show itself at some point.”

You would also imagine the Jets' top point producers are going to come up with a big outing as well.

To this point, Jets centre Adam Lowry leads his team with four goals while playing some of the best hockey of his career.

Blake Wheeler has three goals and five points in five games and Neal Pionk is doing his best to pick up the slack on the back end, chipping in seven assists -- including helpers on each of the past five goals the Jets have scored.

One of the other storylines is the Jets' health. Head coach Rick Bowness provided a quick injury update and offered some hope as it pertains to the availability of centre Mark Scheifele, who suffered an upper-body injury in Game 4.

“I just talked to Mark and he is feeling better than he did (Monday). So, he’s definitely on the day-to-day,” Bowness told reporters. “Let’s put him in the hopeful category for Thursday. Nik Ehlers will skate with the team and we’ll see where he is.”

Ehlers has missed the past five games with an upper-body injury, while backup goalie David Rittich continues to deal with a lower-body issue that forced Arvid Holm to dress for Game 4.

When it comes to any potential line juggling that is required, Bowness welcomes that with open arms, just like the challenge of trying to keep this season alive.

“I could never figure out that Rubix cube. I was never smart enough. The lines are a lot easier because you can throw around different looks in different situations. That’s a lot easier for me than a Rubix cube,” said Bowness. “There’s no choice. We have to be confident. We have to be. And we will be. We’ll be a very confident group going into that game. We’re going to have a swagger to us that says if we go out, it’s going to be one tough fight. When we play with that attitude, then I like our chances.”