Hellebuyck shines, but Jets fall in overtime to Vegas

There may be countless acts in numerous theatres and stadiums in Las Vegas, but the real headliner on Sunday night was Connor Hellebuyck.
The 2020 Vezina Trophy winner, who came into the night with one shutout and a 0.925 save percentage, made a convincing argument that he should be at the forefront of the conversation for this year's award as well.
The 29-year-old made 46 saves in regulation to get the Winnipeg Jets to overtime in their road trip finale, but Jack Eichel of the Golden Knights (8-2-0) tucked in the game-winner with six seconds remaining in 3-on-3 to hand the Jets a 2-1 loss.
But even a sensational performance - with cross-crease saves, diving paddle stops, and a game-saving partial breakaway stop on Nicolas Roy in the dying seconds of regulation - wasn't enough for Hellebuyck.
"Right now I know how important every single point is," Hellebuyck said. "Halfway through the season we're going to be looking at numbers and crunching to see who we need to beat and stuff like that. It's important to get it now."

What the Jets did get over the road trip, which had three games in four nights, is five of a possible six points thanks to wins in Los Angeles and Arizona.

"We'll take the five points, but the LA game was a lot like tonight. Our goaltender had to stand on his head for most of the evening," said associate coach Scott Arniel. "We'll take the points, get out of here. We have some lessons to learn."
One of those lessons, no doubt, is starting games the right way.
The Jets (5-3-1) were outshot 18-4 in the opening 20 minutes against Vegas, with 10 of those coming as high-danger chances according to Natural Stat Trick. Overall, Winnipeg was outshot 44-17 in the first period during the three games of the trip.
"We talk about it, we've done our homework on it, we're prepared for it, it's just a matter of execution," said defenceman Brenden Dillon. "Every team knows that these guys, in the first period, come out hard. They're able to generate chances and opportunities. Bucky played fantastic and I think, credit to us for finding a way to get it to overtime. We know we can be a lot better than that."

Hellebuyck's fantastic play kept the game tied at 0-0 through the first 40 minutes.
"I understand why he won the Vezina. He's an outstanding goaltender," said Arniel. "after the second period it couldn't get any uglier. I pretty much told them it wasn't going to get any uglier than what we had just shown for two periods. Pretty much said let's not waste an opportunity that Helly is giving you."
The players took that to heart.
Only 13 seconds into the third, the Jets broke through. Neal Pionk's shot from the right point was stopped by Adin Hill, and Adam Lowry was there to bang it home to make it 1-0 for the visitors.
It was Lowry's second of the season. And it came on Winnipeg's 10th shot on goal.

"He takes so much pride in being a Jet, and being a leader on this team," Dillon said of Lowry. "He works hard and plays the right way. He's a guy you can count on and you know what you're going to get from him for 60 minutes."
Vegas finally solved Hellebuyck with just under 13 minutes to go in regulation. After Morgan Barron was taken down in the corner, the Golden Knights quickly got the puck in front to Mark Stone. Stone's initial shot was stopped, but he batted the rebound under Hellebuyck's arm and in to make it 1-1.
The shots on goal were much closer in the third (with Vegas holding a 14-12 edge), as the Jets seemed to find their game in the final frame.
"We just know in here that's a good team and we need to get up for these games," said Dillon. "That's one of the best teams in the league that we know is going to be there at the end for playoffs. That's how you measure yourself."

Winnipeg had four of the five shots in overtime, including a golden opportunity when former Golden Knight, Nate Schmidt, broke in on a partial break - only to have Hill snatch the defenceman's shot out of the air.
With the seconds ticking down, Eichel circled the Jets zone before finding the space he needed to drive wide and cut in front of Hellebuyck. He slid it home, which snapped Winnipeg's win streak at three games.
"If I'm thinking myself, I think I want to poke check that next time," Hellebuyck said. "I haven't really assessed it. That's why I like to watch video. I don't want to play the 'what if' game."
The defeat in Vegas ends the October schedule for the Jets, and sees them tied with the Dallas Stars at the top of the Central Division standings.
"So a good start," Hellebuyck said. "If we can continue to grow and get better, we have good things ahead."