Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 13, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM ● C3 RALEIGH, N.C. — Eric Staal became the fourth player to have his number re- tired by the Carolina Hurricanes when his No. 12 was raised at the Lenovo Center prior to the team’s game against the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday. The Thunder Bay, Ont., native and former No. 2 draft pick spent 12 of his 18 NHL seasons with Carolina, record- ing 455 goals and 608 assists over 1,365 career games. He served as captain from 2009 to 2016 and appeared in six NHL All-Star Games, winning MVP honours in 2008. The 40-year-old Staal, who retired in July after signing a one-day contract with the team, joined Rod Brind’Amour (17), Ron Francis (10) and Glen Wesley (2) in the rafters. He set several franchise records after the team relocated from Hart- ford, Conn., in 1997, including goals scored (322), assists (453), points (775), games played (909), power-play goals (105), power-play points (252) and hat tricks (13). Aside from the individual accom- plishments, Staal also saw the fran- chise carve its place in history with a Stanley Cup in 2006. He called that the highlight of his career. “The memory I have of a Hurricane is of a Stanley Cup champion,” Staal said. “It’s not easy to win one. I only have one, and I won it here.” Staal was joined for the ceremony by family, including his brothers Jor- dan, the current Hurricanes captain, and Marc, a former NHL defenseman. Current Hurricanes players took in the festivities from the bench, and several of his former teammates were also present. Cam Ward and Justin Williams, members of the Hurricanes Hall of Fame, donned varsity jackets and watched the ceremony from the ice. A video montage was played, fea- turing highlights and interviews from Staal’s playing days. “Words can hardly do justice how much this means to me,” said Staal, who was occasionally interrupted by fans chanting his name. “Growing up … playing in the NHL felt like an impossible dream.” Staal was presented with a Breitling watch engraved with his name, number and phrase, “Forever a Hurricane.” Speaking with reporters afterward, Staal said he’d like to get involved with hockey again in some capacity. But for now, he’s busy at home. “I have three boys. They’re 15, 13 and 10,” Staal said. “I’m helping coach my oldest son and my youngest. … Time just kind of goes fast.” — The Associated Press T HIS was precisely why Scott Ar- niel decided to change things up and save Connor Hellebuyck for this battle of Central Division heavy- weights. After backup Eric Comrie helped the Winnipeg Jets get to overtime and salvage a point against the Los Angeles Kings on Friday, Hellebuyck stood tall and made 22 saves to record his league-leading sixth shutout of the season in what was a 3-0 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday before a crowd of 14,782 at Canada Life Centre. Hellebuyck was at his big and boring best, but also benefited from an incred- ibly impressive defensive effort in front of him. “He had an easy night,” said Arniel, who was smiling but quickly got seri- ous. “No. Never, ever discredit a guy that gets a shutout. I mean he had to make stops. He knew that they were trying to get their (shot) volume. And that’s another thing we did a really good job of, was get in shot lanes. We did a real- ly good job of making sure that not all those pucks got to the net front. “But when stuff happens, he’s there.” The commitment to structure, puck management and attention to detail was among the best we’ve seen all season long as the Jets took a 2-1 lead in the four-game season series — with the final meeting scheduled for Jan. 22 in Denver. It was the fifth time this season that the Jets have played games on consec- utive days, but the first time travel was not involved and the first time Arniel changed the goalie order. After going 4-0 in the front end of those games, the Jets dropped four consecutive outings on the tail end. Hellebuyck, who was celebrated on Friday for hitting the goalie triple crown of 500 games, 300 wins and 40 shutouts, is on a nonsensical heater against the Avalanche in the regular season — blanking them on three consecutive occasions during the past two seasons. “Yeah, he’s been fantastic all year. And not just this year, for me he’s been one of the top guys in the league for a while,” said Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar. “That is earned. It’s consistency over time, giving your team a chance to win.” With the win, the Jets extended their lead over the Avalanche in the Central Division to eight points. The Jets, who improved to 29-12-3 for the season, are back in action on Tuesday against the Vancouver Ca- nucks as they continue an eight-game homestand. The Jets have collected six of a pos- sible 10 points so far. Let’s take a closer look at what trans- pired in this one: The eraser Arniel was treating this latest Jets versus Avalanche battle as if it was a playoff game, complete with altering two of his lines after the pre-game warmup. With Vladislav Namestnikov out after blocking a shot in the third period of Friday’s game against the Los An- geles Kings, Jets captain Adam Lowry moved up onto the second line with Nikolaj Ehlers and Alex Iafallo, while Rasmus Kupari got a promotion to the third line with Nino Niederreiter and Cole Perfetti. Not only did Ehlers score a goal to open the scoring, the Lowry line handled plenty of the heavy minutes against the Avalanche top line of Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Jonathan Drouin — and held them in check. “Yeah, of course,” said Ehlers, who is up to 14 goals after adding an empty-netter with 57 seconds to go in regulation. “But you know, they’re really good players, too. When they buzz, they buzz. But like I said, I think you can see that I enjoyed that challenge and I tried to do my best not to give up anything. And we worked as a line not to give them anything. I loved it.” Arniel liked the way Ehlers handled the additional responsibility and had him thinking about future permuta- tions and combinations. “He knew he was going against the MacKinnon line and he took a lot of pride in that, in making sure he did his part to keep those guys off the score- sheet,” said Arniel. “It’s intriguing now. It’s got me think- ing. I liked a lot of what I saw.” The eraser, part II It’s a five-man job every time MacK- innon steps onto the ice and Arniel chose to lean on the defence pairing of Dylan Samberg and Neal Pionk to handle a good chunk of the job — with Josh Morrissey and Dylan DeMelo providing some support as well. Samberg had another strong showing in what was just his second game back from a broken foot he sustained while blocking a slapshot from Nashville Predators forward Steven Stamkos back on Nov. 23. It’s not difficult to quantify the boost that Samberg provided to the defence corps as a whole and to Pionk, who has cycled through a revolving door of defence partners during the past seven weeks. Samberg had three shots on goal, a hit and three blocked shots and also chipped in an assist on the Ehlers goal that gave the Jets a 1-0 lead early in the first period, though he was quick to downplay his own contribution — a calm cross-ice zone exit. “I didn’t do a whole lot, to be honest,” said Samberg. “Just get the puck to the right players, let them do their magic. That’s pretty much what it was.” Samberg was north of 23 minutes of ice time — including plenty of taxing minutes — in each of the two games played on consecutive days. “It actually feels pretty good. I’m just a little tired,” said Samberg. “I’m ready to take a nice long nap. It was fine. Good to get back out there.” The pass(es) In order to extend the lead late in the second period, the Jets completed a series of smart passes in the offensive zone. The first saw Jets Morrissey find Kyle Connor in the slot with a nifty saucer pass. With a pair of Avalanche defend- ers applying pressure on Connor, he noticed Mark Scheifele all alone on the backdoor and ensured that his pass found him — when most thought he might be trying to get a shot of his own off. For Scheifele, it was his team-lead- ing 25th goal and moved him to 50 points for the season — joining Connor — who has 23 goals and 55 points in 44 games. Scheifele also moved into a tie for 2nd in the NHL in goals, trailing only Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers. The key play Nikolaj Ehlers set the tone by taking a pass from Dylan Samberg, accelerating through the neutral zone and ripping a shot past Mackenzie Blackwood 72 seconds into the contest. The three stars — 1. Connor Helle- buyck, Jets, 22 saves for his league- leading sixth shutout of the season; 2. Nikolaj Ehlers, Jets, two goals, three shots on goal, three hits, two blocked shots; 3. Dylan Samberg, Jets, one assist, team-leading 24:47 of ice time. Extra! Extra! With Namestnikov scratched with a lower-body issue and officially listed as day-to-day, Dominic Toninato suited up for the Jets for the first time this season. In what was the 185th NHL game of Toninato’s career, he took 13 shifts for eight minutes and 20 seconds of ice time, including 1:27 while short- handed. Jets defenceman Logan Stanley left the game with 5:29 to go in the first period after taking a puck in the face. He returned to start the second and finished the game with 12:43 of ice time on the third pairing with Dylan Coghlan. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Jets held a decisive 14-3 edge in high-danger chances at five-on-five. ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld SPORTS I HOCKEY MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 2025 JETS 3 AVALANCHE 0 JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck keeps his eye on the puck as defenceman Dylan DeMelo defends against Colorado Avalanche forward Ross Colton on Saturday. Hellebuyck holds back Avalanche KEN WIEBE Stops 22 shots for sixth shutout of season in big win over charging Central Division rivals JOHN WOODS / THE CANADIAN PRESS Winnipeg Jets’ Mark Scheifele and Colorado Avalanche’s Devon Toews collide. KARL DEBLAKER / THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Former Hurricanes player Eric Staal speaks during a ceremony to retire his No. 12 jersey. Hurricanes honour Staal, retire No. 12 DOUG BONJOUR ;