WINNIPEG – After a wild Game 1, Jets fans know that Connor Hellebuyck is recovering from his busy night.
The Jets goaltender faced 46 shots on Sunday evening in the 7-6 victory over the Colorado Avalanche and joked he’s still winding down.
“That was probably one of the most sweatiest games I’ve played in this league yesterday. So, there's a few extra things I had to do,” said Hellebuyck.
“But for the most part it was just slowly winding down and watching highlights or some other games, see what's going on around the league and just relaxing.”
The likely Vezina Trophy finalist was second in the league in save percentage (.921) and fourth in goals against average (2.39) during the regular season. Not once did he allow six goals in a game until the opener of the playoffs, but with 41 playoff games under his belt, he knew he just had to adjust his mindset to the game in front of him.
“It’s going to be, ‘I need to stop one more than the other guy.’ I turn my mindset to that. our offence was buzzing, we scored seven. That’s an incredible feeling and our crowd was absolutely insane,” said Hellebuyck.
“What more could you ask for out of a playoff hockey game? That being said, you have to soak it in, use the crowd to your advantage and be one better than the next guy.”
Tyler Toffoli has played 19 games (18 regular season, 1 postseason) with the Jets since being acquired from the New Jersey Devils in March. Toffoli won a Stanley Cup with Los Angeles in 2014 when Jonathan Quick starred in the nets leading the Kings to their second championship. The 31-year-old compared Hellebuyck to Quick in the way they both go about their business.
Very similar to Quicky in the sense that he just comes in and gets the job done and does his job, gets his recovery, gets his work in,” said Toffoli.
That’s kind of all it is. He doesn’t need to be praised in a good way and doesn’t need to hear the negatives.”
Toffoli experienced his first ever Whiteout last night and enjoyed the energy that the fans brought in the building. From a performance standpoint, Toffoli’s line with Sean Monahan and Nikolaj Ehlers were kept off the scoresheet but also didn’t give up anything at even strength.
“Sean's line is very reliable at both ends of the ice. They didn't score last night, but they had some really good looks,” said Rick Bowness.
“And they really weren't in a lot of trouble in our zone. Of all the lines, they weren't. So, give them credit for that.”
After the Jets beat the Avalanche 7-0 in their final regular season meeting in Denver, the team knew that Colorado would be at their best for Game 1. The Avalanche were a handful thanks in large part to their entries into the Jets end of the ice.
"They got in way too easy, and we didn't pick up that second wave of defencemen coming up. They were able to get in and it wasn't one and done,” said Bowness.
“Sometimes those rushes are one and done, we get the puck and go. It was a rush, a chance, and we were scrambling too much. We didn't end enough plays.”
