WINNIPEG 鈥� First, they gave their most prized netminder an unspecified gift in the morning.
Then, they gifted Connor Hellebuyck eight goals and a win on "Hellebuyck Night" at the Canada Life Centre on Friday night.
The line of Vlad Namestnikov, Cole Perfetti and Nikolaj Ehlers had their best game of the season, accounting for five Winnipeg Jets goals in an 8-3 triumph over the San Jose Sharks.
鈥淚t鈥檚 great,鈥� said Perfetti, who broke out with two goals and two assists. 鈥淗e鈥檚 the best goalie in the league. It鈥檚 a treat to have him on your team and it鈥檚 a lot of help for us. It鈥檚 nice to put up a large number for him on his night.
鈥淲e were due for that to help him out and score for him. He鈥檚 bailed us out multiple times, so it was nice to do that for him in tonight鈥檚 game.鈥�
Jets fans were given the opportunity to take pictures with the Vezina and Jennings Trophies, which Hellebuyck won last season, on the arena concourse.
鈥淲henever it鈥檚 a day like that, you鈥檙e happy,鈥� said Namestnikov, who had one goal and three helpers. 鈥淲e gave him a gift this morning and everyone was happy for him. The main thing is, we got the win today for him, and we celebrated.鈥�
When it was announced that Hellebuyck had started his 500th NHL game, the fans gave him a standing ovation and chanted 鈥楬elle! Helle! Helle!鈥� He gratefully saluted them in response.
"It's his 500th start, they wanted to make sure that everybody was at their best,鈥� said Jets coach Scott Arniel. 鈥淲e've got some good things going here and whenever you have those nights like that, when one of the guys is being honoured like he was, you want to be at your best. Tonight guys tried to do whatever they could.
"We haven't scored a lot of goals but there's been a lot of really good looks and I thought we were rewarded tonight."
Ehlers added two goals and an assist while defenceman Neal Pionk produced one goal and three assists.
鈥淭he guys were obviously (motivated) 鈥� a nice little gift he got from the players,鈥� Arniel said. 鈥淎ll he鈥檚 done for this organization and what he means to this hockey team, for them to give him a lot of run support 鈥� four in the first period. Then obviously, he can settle in and do what he needs to do.
鈥淎t the end of the day, we want to give him some nights off and maybe give him the opportunity not to see a ton of shots and a ton of pressure against him. And we did enough obviously offensively.鈥�
Kyle Connor and Josh Morrissey also scored for the Jets, who have started a season 4-0 for the first time in franchise history.
鈥淥bviously, we only scored one goal the last couple (of games) and we鈥檇 gotten lots of chances,鈥� Arniel said. 鈥淓ach line had their share of opportunities, but didn鈥檛 go in. Tonight, it was kind of nice to see everybody getting a reward for it. It was great to see our Namestnikov line get rewarded the way they did.鈥�
The Jets were also 4-for-7 on the power play.
鈥淵ou chase games that way and, obviously, they have a good power play, so that鈥檚 one thing we need to correct,鈥� said Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky, whose team is winless in five outings.
NOTES: It was the first time this season that Hellebuyck allowed more than one goal in a game 鈥� The Jets celebrated their 20 millionth fan during the game 鈥� They have now won 12 straight regular-season games going back to last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Oct. 18, 2024
Jim Bender, The Canadian Press
