The Jets continued to soar even without one of their biggest guns as they exacted a little bit of revenge on the New York Islanders by the tune of a 4-2 score. The Jets again benefited from timely scoring and a strong forecheck, but the real story was goalie Connor Hellebuyck who made 42 saves to pick up his 20th win of the season.
The Jets are a confident bunch right now and some of it has to do with scoring and the knowledge that even if they fall behind they have the ability to score to get back into it, but a lot of their poise during games has to do with their confidence in Hellebuyck in goal. Even when he gives up a goal, it’s not like it has been in seasons past where it might be a harbinger of more goals scored against.
As always, share your thoughts on tonight’s game in the comments below and with us on Twitter.

SCORING SUMMARY

GIF RECAP

HOW DID THEY CORSI?

Charts and numbers courtesy of Corsica.Hockey
Matchups are limited to 5-on-5 situations. Tile size is scaled by Time On Ice and colour is scaled by adjusted Expected Goals differential. Blue represents a home team advantage and red represents a road team advantage.

PLAYERS OF THE GAME

For Winnipeg: Connor Hellebuyck – It seems a bit lame to just automatically default to the goalie every time he has more than 40 saves (or as mentioned, 42 tonight) but there were stretches when the Jets were only up by one goal (both when it was 1-0 and when it was 2-1) where an Islanders goal would have changed the complexion of the game but it never got to that point.
For New York: Anders Lee – If not for the Barzal hat trick a week ago, this would have been Lee’s second PotG against the Jets. Two goals tonight and led his team in shots on goal. He was a threat the entire game.

NEXT FLIGHT

The Jets will close out 2017 with a date in Edmonton on New Years Eve against the Oilers.