The Jets didn’t have a skate today and Arniel was not releasing any lineup information Saturday. One of the big questions heading into the game against the Capitals is could this be the night that Connor Hellebuyck makes his return?
Friday afternoon, Arniel said that when Hellebuyck returns he warned his team that one guy can’t do it all.
“Yes, sort of two parts. Yes, in the sense of we can’t give up the Grade A’s that we’ve been giving up no matter which goalie’s in there. And the other side is if you take (Connor) McDavid out of Edmonton, you take (Nathan) MacKinnon out of Colorado, you take some of these guys off of these teams, these Hart Trophy type players, it is a blow to your team,” said Arniel.
“When that’s a goaltender, that’s obviously a whole different ballgame, so to have him back in the fold will be major for us in that sense. At the end of the day, when that happens, and hopefully the group in front of him recognizes it: we can’t give up that kind of looks.”
This homestand has presented the Jets some of the best teams in the NHL, Dallas (2nd overall), Boston (10th) and this evening’s opponent, Washington is fourth overall.
“Yeah, that’s the that’s the beauty of this league. You always get the best,” said Neal Pionk.
“So, couple hot teams coming in here, but we got to regroup and have some confidence in our game going in against a good Washington team.”
Capitals defensemen have scored 23 goals this season, tied for the most in the NHL. They have
accounted for 21.9% of the teams goals this season (23 of 105), 3rd highest % in the NHL. Jakob Chychrun (11) and John Carlson (6) are always jumping up into the play.
“Their D is very active. It’s not just those two, but all six. They do a real good job of finding ice and getting shots through. I think last time we played them they had 13 shots from their back end, 13 or 14,” said Arniel.
“And they also have bodies that are in and around their net, that’s part of their makeup, how they go about creating some of their offence. I think they’re No. 2 in the league on the analytic side of things when it comes to offence.”
Puck drop is scheduled for 6 CT.
