WINNIPEG 鈥� Connor Hellebuyck鈥檚 coach and teammates believe he deserves the V茅zina Trophy he was nominated for on Monday.
They also know their elite goaltender deserves more help in front of him if the Winnipeg Jets are to avoid being bounced out of the NHL playoffs in Game 5 at home against the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night.
The Jets have lost three straight and are down 3-1 in their best-of-seven opening-round series against the Avalanche.
鈥淗e is No. 1 for me. It鈥檚 very well deserved,鈥� Jets head coach Rick Bowness said of Hellebuyck on Monday.
鈥淗e is the backbone. Every great team has a great goaltender and, listen, this guy is a great goaltender and he deserves it. I just spoke with him about it and he鈥檚 pretty excited but he鈥檚 more worried about tomorrow night, right? He鈥檚 focusing on that.鈥�
Hellebuyck was nominated for the league鈥檚 top-goalie award for the second straight year and fourth time in his career. He captured the hardware in 2020.
Vancouver鈥檚 Thatcher Demko and Florida鈥檚 Sergei Bobrovsky are the other finalists.
Hellebuyck posted a 37-19-4 record with a 2.39 goals-against average, .921 save percentage and five shutouts. He won the William M. Jennings Trophy as the goaltender (minimum 25 games played) on the team with the fewest goals allowed.
Now he leads all post-season netminders in goals against with 19, but no one is blaming him for the team鈥檚 poor performance.
Backup Laurent Brossoit replaced Hellebuyck to start the third period Sunday when Winnipeg trailed 4-1 in what eventually was a 5-1 loss.
鈥淚 gave him a little bit of a breather in the third period last night and to put a little more onus on the players in front of him have to play better,鈥� Bowness said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we made that (change). It had absolutely nothing to do with his play at all.鈥�
Jets defenceman Neal Pionk agreed.
鈥淲e have the best goalie in the league and we got to play better in front of him. So plain and simple,鈥� Pionk said. 鈥淲e got to give up less chances, block more shots and compete a little harder in front of him.鈥�
POSITIVE INJURY UPDATE
Bowness had a better-than-expected update on forward Vladislav Namestnikov, who had a puck hit him under his visor after teammate Nate Schmidt鈥檚 shot went off a stick.
Trainers helped him off the ice and he was taken to a Denver hospital.
鈥淗e has a fractured cheekbone,鈥� Bowness said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 no orbital damage but they kept him overnight and he鈥檚 on his way back (to Winnipeg).
鈥淚 sent him a text last night and he answered this morning and said he鈥檚 feeling better.鈥�
Bowness was asked if Namestnikov might play Tuesday wearing a helmet with a full cage.
鈥淟isten, nothing would surprise me with (Namestnikov),鈥� he replied, adding he鈥檒l never rule anything out.
Jets captain Adam Lowry described the sound of the puck hitting Namestnikov and seeing the pool of blood as 鈥渢errifying.鈥�
鈥淚 think, first and foremost, you鈥檙e hoping that it avoids his eye. You know there鈥檚 going to be some damage,鈥� Lowry said.
鈥淔rom all the reports, we still haven鈥檛 seen him, but from all the reports he certainly avoided the worst.鈥�
Bowness updated Winnipeg鈥檚 other injuries and said lineup changes will be made for Tuesday's critical match.
Forward Morgan Barron has been out since the team鈥檚 second-last game of the regular season with a lower-body injury, still hasn鈥檛 skated and won鈥檛 play Tuesday, he said.
Veteran defenceman Brenden Dillon hasn鈥檛 been ruled out after a skate blade sliced his left hand in last Friday鈥檚 6-2 loss to the Avs.
鈥淗e鈥檇 play with two broken hands if he could, if we let him,鈥� Bowness said.
鈥淲e鈥檒l make the right decision based on what鈥檚 best for him. We鈥檙e not going put him out there unless we鈥檙e 100 per cent sure there can be no more damage done.鈥�
ADJUSTMENTS STILL NEEDED
Bowness said his team isn鈥檛 winning enough battles and he wants his players鈥� intensity to ramp up against the 2022 Stanley Cup-champion Avalanche.
鈥淵ou can make all of the adjustments that you want, if the intensity and everything else isn鈥檛 there, it鈥檚 going to go for naught,鈥� he said.
Lowry said the tight-knit group can improve.
鈥淚 think it's one of those things you can't look at the task as being so unmanageable,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou have to have some belief. And I believe we have a lot of belief in our group and our ability to get out of this.鈥�
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 29, 2024.
Judy Owen, The Canadian Press
