Hellebuyck will have to top former backup Brossoit for Jets to beat Golden Knights

LAS VEGAS — Is this a dream matchup or will it end up being a recurring nightmare?

A shot at redemption or another disheartening end to the season, setting the stage for a summer of potentially franchise-altering decisions?

The truth of the matter is that it’s way too early to tell, but that won’t stop us from looking under the hood in search of some clues as the Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights get set to meet for the second time in the Stanley Cup playoffs over the past five years.

No, this is not a history lesson, nor is it meant to be a painful reminder for a Jets fan base that is still stinging from being ousted in five games by the Golden Knights during the 2018 Western Conference final.

But given the fact the Jets have won only three series since 2011, it’s impossible to ignore the previous meeting, especially when you consider what could be on the horizon for Winnipeg whenever this playoff run comes to a close.

The last time these two clubs met in the postseason, the Jets were coming off a euphoric high of dispatching the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Nashville Predators in an emotional seven-game series.

Then just two days later, there was Mark Scheifele leaving a drop pass for Dustin Byfuglien, who blasted a slapper past Marc-André Fleury just over a minute into Game 1 as the Jets mostly cruised to a 4-2 victory.

An entire province was riding high and thoughts quickly shifted into dreams of advancing to the Stanley Cup final.

The early indication was that the end of the remarkable run for those inaugural season misfits appeared on the horizon — until it wasn’t.

Not only did the Jets not win the series, they never won another game, bowing out in five, as the Golden Knights advanced to face the eventual champion Washington Capitals in the Stanley Cup final.

The road has been mostly rocky for the Jets since that series, the lone exception being the 2021 four-game sweep of the Edmonton Oilers in a round that featured three overtime victories (and one that required three overtimes before Nikolaj Ehlers ended Game 3).

The rosters of both teams have undergone some significant turnover since 2018, though the Jets’ core group — especially among the forwards — has plenty of pieces intact.

That in itself is a storyline that will be expanded on over the course of the next few days since this playoff run is going to have a bit of a 'Last Dance' vibe to it.

One of the prevalent themes going into this season for the Jets was the urgency required for the group, given the uncertain contract situation for the likes of goalie Connor Hellebuyck, forwards Mark Scheifele, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Blake Wheeler, and defencemen Brenden Dillon and Dylan DeMelo, all of whom could become unrestricted free agents in the summer of 2024.

Well, that storyline moved to the back burner for the regular season but it’s moving back to the piping-hot element as soon as this Jets run is over, whether that’s after one round, four rounds, or somewhere in between.

Many of those aforementioned players are going to need to play either a pivotal or a complementary role in order for the Jets to advance past a Golden Knights group that has plenty to prove themselves after making the playoffs for the fifth time in six seasons.

Just like the Jets, the Golden Knights missed the playoffs last season, but they were ravaged by injuries so their ability to rebound didn’t come as much of a surprise.

Vegas didn’t go into cruise control mode either. Because of how tight things were in the standings, they found a way to deliver results and held off the hard-charging Oilers, the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars.

One of the other interesting things about this duel is how the roles have been mostly reversed, with the Jets coming in as the second wild card and the Golden Knights entering as the top seed, after going 22-4-5 down the stretch to create a 16-point bulge in the standings between the two clubs.

Both of these teams have first-year head coaches running the bench, though Rick Bowness and Bruce Cassidy both fall into the experienced category and have made an immediate impact.

Bowness and Cassidy brought enhanced structure to their respective clubs, though the Golden Knights are a bit more advanced in that process.

The goaltending matchup is another thing that cannot be ignored since it features Hellebuyck and his former Jets backup, Laurent Brossoit.

Hellebuyck put together another Vezina-calibre season, while Brossoit left Winnipeg in search of an opportunity to be between the pipes a bit more back in the summer of 2021.

That didn’t immediately transpire but in a season that has featured four different netminders for the Golden Knights — including two-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Quick, Adin Hill, Jiri Patera and All-star Logan Thompson (who is out with a lower-body injury), Brossoit has emerged as the starter for Game 1.

As impressive as his 7-0-3 run has been, it’s even wilder when you consider he was coming off hip surgery and spent a chunk of this season (23 games) with the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League as he got himself healthy and back up to speed.

By the time the buzzer had sounded on Thursday night, Brossoit had raised his save percentage to .927 and lowered his goals-against average to 2.17.

Sure, the sample size is relatively small but you can’t ignore the results either.

He’s played great and earned the net.

Moments after the Golden Knights locked down first place in both the Pacific Division and Western Conference, Brossoit was asked by reporters in Seattle about facing his former club.

“We’re playing Winnipeg, right? I’m sure you guys will have fun with that,” Brossoit told reporters with a wry smile before getting serious. “I don’t really care who is on the other side. My game is feeling good and I’ve got a book on a few of them, so hopefully that helps.”

During his time with the Jets, Brossoit supported Hellebuyck well and understood his role, while also never losing the belief he could grow into a starter himself if given the opportunity.

The willingness to carve out a larger role is part of what brought him to this point, even if it’s taken him a bit longer than he’d probably hoped.

As it turns out, Brossoit’s timing might be impeccable, as he is on an expiring contract and will be a pending unrestricted free agent this summer.

It’s never a one-on-one situation when it comes to goalies, but these two will certainly be measured by how they perform over the next several weeks and compared to one another.

To be clear, more than just bragging rights will be on the line.

For Hellebuyck, it’s an opportunity to be the great equalizer and when you look at the eight teams in the West, one could easily make the case Hellebuyck could be the best goalie of the bunch.

Even that alone wouldn’t ensure victory in a series like this one, but one thing is certain, the Jets have little chance to advance if Hellebuyck is the second-best goalie in this conversation.

He got a rare night off on Thursday but still finished the campaign with 64 starts, leading the league.

Earlier this week, Hellebuyck brushed aside a question related to how taxing that workload has been.

“I’ve always been prepared and ready for whenever my name is called,” said Hellebuyck. “We’ve been managing my workload between games really well.”

Hellebuyck is about to be a season away from unrestricted free agency for the first time himself and recently repeated his sole goal is to capture the Stanley Cup.

How many more chances he will have to do that with the Jets is very much up in the air, especially if he reaches a point where he wants to become the highest-paid goalie in the NHL.

That’s a discussion for another day, though it’s a topic that could weigh heavily on the direction the Jets decide to take this off-season when several other potentially franchise-altering decisions will need to be made.

As for Brossoit, it’s time to show the world he can handle the No. 1 job when it matters most and if he’s able to do that, it just might be enough to convince an organization that he’s ready to be a full-time starter for an extended period for the first time in his NHL career.

Goaltending is sure to be a big factor, but it won’t be the only one.

However, it’s a great jumping-off point for what figures to be a highly-entertaining series between two hungry franchises.