WINNIPEG -- The Winnipeg Jets have had a roller coaster of a season so far.
They experienced the excitement of an outdoor game, hosting the NHL Heritage Classic in late October, the pain of a nine-game losing streak (0-7-2 from Oct. 15 to Nov. 1), the exhilaration of ending that skid with an improbable four-goal comeback in the final minutes of the third period in a 5-4 overtime win at the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday, and more late game heroics in a 4-3 win against the Tampa Bay Lightning here at Canada Life Centre on Sunday courtesy of a buzzer-beating goal from Mark Scheifele.
Up next on the wild ride will be the New Jersey Devils, who acquired Connor Hellebuyck in a trade with Winnipeg on Oct. 25, ending the saga with the goaltender that had resulted in a suspension.
The Devils announced on Sunday that Hellebuyck won't play on Tuesday, but that won't make the game less impactful for Winnipeg and its fan base.
“This has been an (18)-game wave,” coach Scott Arniel said of the Jets' season (7-8-3) “It started before we got to training camp, and it’s been kind of up and down, and obviously we were down for a long stretch there, but now we’re back up again, feeling good.
"I still have to throw this on our leadership. Our guys in our room have done a really good job of kind of keeping the noise away. Even with the goaltender situation, that was one where the guys handled it professionally and first class. Even the losing part, losing the nine games, we never came apart. We were really still pushing each other hard and staying together. ... That’s what you have to do. You go through tough times. Every team is going to do it, good times, tough times. We’re in a good one right now. Let’s try to ride this one as long as we can.”
It's not surprising Winnipeg is feeling good.
In their win against the Canadiens, the Jets battled back from a 4-0 deficit by scoring four goals in the final 2:39 of the third period to send the game to overtime.
Captain Adam Lowry, who had been assessed a major penalty for fighting with just under five minutes to play, had to put his equipment back on when he saw the possibility of overtime, and he would go on to set up the winning goal by Dylan Samberg for the 5-4 win.
The Jets' four-goal comeback victory was the latest in NHL history. The Los Angeles Kings held the previous record, beginning their comeback against the Dallas Stars at 52:46 on Nov. 10, 2007.
Winnipeg then put together one of its most complete games of the season with a 6-2 victory against the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday before the game on Sunday, when Scheifele's power-play goal with 1.6 seconds remaining in the third period salvaged the win after the Jets blew a three-goal lead in a 4:05 span in the third.
“It’s keeping the faith in this room, in this group,” Scheifele said. “You’re going to go through tough stretches. Obviously, no one wants to go through a stretch like that, but we’ve learned a lot from it, and we just have to continue to learn.”
Winnipeg's recent turnaround certainly added to the anticipation of Tuesday's game against the Devils. That was until New Jersey general manager Sunny Mehta announced on Sunday that Hellebuyck would not start in that game.
In a statement released by the team, Mehta pointed to "win probability" as the reason for the decision.
“This has been an organizational decision for us that we debated at length,” Mehta said. “Connor Hellebuyck was adamant that he felt a duty to play on Tuesday in Winnipeg. However, in our estimation, playing in this game would potentially give us a reduction in our expected win probability.”
There's a reason why there is a heightened focus on what is going to be Hellebuyck's first game back in Winnipeg.
Selected by the Jets in the fifth round (No. 130) of the 2012 NHL Draft, Hellebuyck is the franchise's all-time leader in wins (345-208-55), won the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL three times (2019-20, 2023-24, 2024-25) and the Hart Trophy as the League's most valuable player once (2024-25).
However, despite having five seasons remaining on a seven-year, $59.5 million contract ($8.5 million average annual value) he signed on Oct. 9, 2023, he publicly stated on Aug. 27 that he had requested a trade from the team earlier in the offseason.
The 33-year-old was subsequently suspended by the Jets when he didn’t report to training camp, and on the day that suspension was scheduled to come to an end, he was traded to New Jersey in exchange for forwards Dawson Mercer and Nick Bjugstad, goalie Nico Daws, the rights to forward Alexander Command, a second-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft and a seventh-round selection in the 2027 NHL Draft.
In five games with the Devils, Hellebuyck is 5-0-0 with a 1.96 goals-against average and .913 save percentage, including getting a 23-save shutout in a 4-0 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Sunday.
“I’m disappointed, but I understand,” Hellebuyck said after that win. “Selfishly, I want to play, but when you’re looking at the team and what’s best for the team, I understand where they're coming from.”
Even without Hellebuyck in net, the Jets can still use Tuesday to showcase their own team, which has been getting contributions throughout the lineup of late.
Defenseman Tyrel Bauer started the comeback against Montreal with his first goal of the season, and rookie forward Brayden Yager scored his first NHL goal in the win against Tampa Bay.
Perhaps most notably, though, Mercer, who was a key part of the Hellebuyck trade, scored his first goal of the season in the win against Vancouver. He has four points (one goal, three assists) in eight games since coming over to Winnipeg.
“We’ve got a lot of great guys on this team, guys with a lot of heart and a lot of skill,” Scheifele said.
