Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - March 13, 2022, Winnipeg, Manitoba B3SUNDAY, MARCH 13, 2022 C M Y K PAGE B3 SPORTS I HOCKEY ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM TONIGHT: JETS @ BLUES Enterprise Center, 6 p.m. TV: TSN3 Radio: CJOB 680 Up next: GOLDEN KNIGHTS @ JETS Tuesday, 7 p.m. TV: TSN3 Radio: CJOB 680 Do Jets stick with No. 1 Hellebuyck in net or go with the hot hand of Comrie? Conundrum in the crease S T. LOUIS — Behind Door No. 1 is your franchise guy, the 2019-20 Vezina Trophy winner who is struggling through arguably the most miserable stretch of his career. Behind Door No. 2 is your popular backup, a bit of an afterthought when the season began who has forced his way into the conversation with rock-solid play every time he gets the net. Which isn’t very often. Which one are you choosing, Dave Lowry? Calling this a full-blown goalie con- troversy might be a tad sensational at this point, but there’s no question the Winnipeg Jets are at a crossroads right now when it comes to the crease. And the decision on who gets to face the St. Louis Blues tonight — Connor Helle- buyck making his 50th start or Eric Comrie making his 11th — is one that might just have implications beyond a single hockey game. No hints were offered Saturday, as the Jets took the day off here in Missou- ri after playing on back-to-back nights in Newark, N.J., and New York. A 2-1 victory over the Devils on Thursday night — thanks largely to Comrie’s 33- save effort — was quickly undone by a disappointing 5-2 defeat to the Island- ers on Friday, which included Hellebuy- ck surrendering four goals on 37 shots. Now comes the proverbial road trip rubber match, with two points at stake that the 26-23-10 Jets desperately need if they want to remain in the playoff race with just 23 regular-season games re- maining and the trade deadline just eight days away, one which could see pending unrestricted free agents Andrew Copp and/or Paul Stastny sent packing. If you’re simply going by numbers, starting Comrie over Hellebuyck should be a no-brainer. He’s 4-0-0 in his last four starts dating back to Jan. 29, when he made 28 saves inside Enter- prise Center as the Jets beat the Blues 4-1. Hellebuyck, meanwhile, has given up four goals or more in six straight starts, a total of 26 over that span, and looks like a shell of his usual stellar self. There’s no question the original plan was for Hellebuyck to play in St. Louis. But Lowry and his staff must be tempt- ed to call an audible and go with the hot hand. Is it likely to sting Hellebuyck if he’s forced to watch from the bench? No question. He wants to play every game. But in a results-oriented busi- ness, one in which “what have you done for me lately” often factors into lineup decisions when it comes to forwards and defencemen, shouldn’t the same apply to the masked men? Besides, St. Louis (34-17-7) just put up a touchdown in Nashville on Satur- day afternoon, beating the Predators 7-4. What would another ugly outing due to Hellebuyck’s already fragile confidence? Maybe another night off and the chance for a mental refresh and re-set would do him well, especial- ly with Vegas and Boston visiting Cana- da Life Centre this week. Hellebuyck is clearly fighting the puck, and his penchant for giving up rebounds lately has been noticeable. But he’s getting very little help in front of him, with defencemen either unable or unwilling to box out their opponents, allowing for multiple chances that are ending up in the back of the net. The big, heavy Islanders had a field day in that department; Still, it’s clear the topic of Hellebuy- ck’s play is a touchy one around the team these days. Alternate captain Josh Morrissey launched into a fiery defence of his teammate when the Free Press asked Friday night at UBS Arena if criticism is fair. “That’s something that, for me, both- ers me, because he’s been the heart and soul of our team back there since we’ve been relevant in the league,” Morrissey began. “This guy battles and competes on pucks. And I mean, a few years ago, you look back at it, we wouldn’t have been able to be even close to getting into the play-in series that year (2020), if it wasn’t for him, and last year as well. I understand that, when you’re goaltender, you get that criticism and he puts more pressure on himself than any external source could, whether it’s media or anything like that. But you know what, it’s not fair to him.” Morrissey, showing some true lead- ership, then pointed the finger of blame directly at himself and his fellow blue-liners. “I mean, when you’ve got guys whacking at pucks in front of the net, that’s a tough place to ask your goaltender to make a second, third, fourth save. And I don’t know, look at the Tampa Bay game (7-4 Jets win last Tuesday). I mean, some pretty danger- ous players walking down the pipe,” said Morrissey. “Yeah, it’s frustrating to hear that. I certainly know that everyone in that room has full confidence in Helly and the type of goaltender he is so we’re not worried at all. We got to do a better job in front of him and make his job easier. We haven’t been good enough in front of him defensively so I don’t listen to that for a second.” Other than a goaltending decision, Lowry might be tempted to shake things up even further. Forward Adam Brooks has been a healthy scratch for five straight games and could be inserted with the hope of adding some jump and offence. Young defenceman Ville Heinola, called up last week fol- lowing an injury to Nathan Beaulieu, is patiently waiting for another chance to show his stuff at the NHL level. It all adds a bit of intrigue to today’s morning skate here in St. Louis. Stay tuned. mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @mikemcintyrewpg JIM MCISAAC / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Anders Lee and his Islanders teammates had a field day Friday night making life miserable for Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck. MIKE MCINTYRE PITTSBURGH — An Olympic gold medal wasn’t on the line this time for Marie-Philip Poulin, who added anoth- er clutch goal against the United States by scoring 2:13 into overtime in Cana- da’s 4-3 win in a “Rivalry Rematch” on Saturday. Some three weeks after Poulin scored the final two goals in Canada’s 3-2 gold-medal win over the Americans at the Beijing Games, the aptly dubbed “Captain Clutch” was at it again. With teams playing three skaters aside, Poulin drove to the right post and had her centring pass deflect off U.S. de- fender Megan Keller and through the legs of goalie Nicole Hensley. Blayre Turnbull, Jamie Lee Rattray and Jocelyne Larocque also scored for Canada, which has won five consecu- tive meetings against its cross-border rival. Hilary Knight, Hayley Scamurra and Hannah Brandt scored for the Amer- icans in a game which represented more of a glimpse toward the future of the sport than its past. The game was a showcase for the Professional Women’s Hockey Players’ Association at a time it is intensifying discussions with select NHL teams and corporate sponsors to launch a pro league within the next year. With Penguins captain Sidney Crosby watching from a suite, the U.S. rallied from a pair of one-goal deficits and took a 3-2 lead on Scamurra’s goal at 7:46 of the third period. Canada responded 24 seconds later with Poulin setting up Rattray snapping in a shot from the right circle. The game featured uneven rosters, with the Americans dressing just 14 skaters to the Canadians’ 17, and lacked the intensity of both meetings in Beijing, or even the two nations’ six pre-Olympic tuneups. In many ways, the “Rivalry Re- match” represented much of what the top women’s players have been campaigning for since establishing the PWHPA three years ago. The exhibition game was organized by the PWHPA, played in an NHL building with the Penguins and the associa- tion’s numerous partners providing the infrastructure, monetary backing for travel and meal costs, and was broadcast nationally on both sides of the border. “This is what we see when we look, I want to say 10 years down the line, but that’s not even the case. I think we could be playing in these arenas now, for sure,” Canadian forward Brianne Jenner said hours before puck drop. “I think our sport has gone through var- ious iterations of professional leagues, and the product’s just got better and better and better. And I think we’ve outgrown where our sport is at.” PWHPA chief Jayna Hefford con- firmed that discussions have ramped up by saying: “We’re closer than we’ve ever been.” “There’s a lot of interest, a lot of conversations going on. I think teams, now more than an ever, are see- ing how accretive it is to their business. It’s not about the right thing to do. It’s not anything other than this is good for our business and this is good for the business of hockey.” The Penguins became the 11th NHL team added to the PWHPA’s list of partners. — The Associated Press Captain Clutch does it again in Olympic rematch JOHN WAWROW KEITH SRAKOCIC / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Canada’s Marie-Philip Poulin circles the U.S. net after banking the winning goal in off de- fender Megan Keller in overtime Saturday in Pittsburgh. Poulin nets OT winner against U.S. in rivalry game ❯❯ ABOUT THE BLUES ● The Blues have won two straight games, including a 7-4 victory on Satur- day afternoon in Nashville. They were on an 0-3-1 skid until getting back on track this past week. ● C Jordan Kyrou (22 G, 36A) has set career highs this season and leads St. Louis in scoring. RW Vladimir Tara- senko (19G, 32A), the subject of plenty of trade rumours last summer, is right behind him. C Robert Thomas (12G, 36A) had a four-point outing against the Predators. ● There’s so much offensive depth here, including LW Pavel Buchnevich (19G, 27A), C Ivan Barbashev (18G, 24A), C Ryan O’Reilly (13G, 26A) C Brayden Schenn (16G, 19A), LW David Perron (16G, 18A) and LW Brandon Saad (18G, 15A). That makes nine forwards with at least a dozen goals and more than 30 points. ● The blue-line is pretty loaded as well, led by Torey Krug (8G, 24A), Justin Faulk (8G, 20A) and Colton Parayko (6G, 17A). ● G Ville Husso (15-4-3, 2.24 GAA, .928 save percentage) has taken over as the No. 1 netminder from Stanley Cup champion G Jordan Binnington (13-12- 3, 3.08 GAA, .904 save percentage), who has really struggled. ● The power play is potent, sitting third-overall in the NHL at 26.1 per cent. The penalty kill has also been solid, ranked ninth at 82.5 per cent. WINNIPEG JETS 1 Eric Comrie G 37 Connor Hellebuyck G 2 Dylan DeMelo D 4 Neal Pionk D 5 Brenden Dillon D 9 Andrew Copp LW 12 Jansen Harkins LW 14 Ville Heinola D 17 Adam Lowry C 21 Dominic Toninato C 25 Paul Stastny C 26 Blake Wheeler RW 27 Nikolaj Ehlers RW 44 Josh Morrissey D 55 Mark Scheifele C 64 Logan Stanley D 71 Evgeny Svechnikov LW 77 Adam Brooks C 80 Pierre-Luc Dubois C 81 Kyle Connor LW 88 Nate Schmidt D 93 Kristian Vesalainen LW Head coach: Dave Lowry Associate coach: Jamie Kompon Assistant coach: Charlie Huddy Goalie coach: Wade Flaherty ST. LOUIS BLUES 35 Ville Husso G 50 Jordan Binnington G 6 Marco Scandella D 10 Brayden Schenn C 18 Robert Thomas C 20 Brandon Saad LW 21 Tyler Bozak C 22 Logan Brown C 25 Jordan Kyrou C 28 Mackenzie MacEachern LW 41 Robert Bortuzzo D 46 Jake Walman D 47 Torey Krug D 49 Ivan Barbashev C 55 Colton Parayko D 57 David Perron LW 65 Alexei Toropchenko RW 70 Oskar Sundqvist C 72 Justin Faulk D 77 Niko Mikkola D 89 Pavel Buchnevich LW 90 Ryan O’Reilly C 91 Vladimir Tarasenko RW Head coach: Craig Berube Assistant coaches: Mike Van Ryn, Jim Montgomery, Steve Ott Goalie coach: David Alexander (Lineups subject to change) B_03_Mar-13-22_FP_01.indd 3 2022-03-12 8:50 PM ;