The St. Louis Blues knew they would be facing a tough test in all Central Division teams. However, the Winnipeg Jets have owned them lately and they must change that.
The St. Louis Blues and the Winnipeg Jets do not have a long history, in terms of the current iteration of the Jets franchise. Despite this, the Jets have quickly vaulted up the list of teams the Blues have to contend with and even call rivals.
However, unfortunately for Blues fans, the rivalry is one sided and not on the side we would like. So, technically, you might not even call it a rivalry since St. Louis has struggled to get wins against their neighbors from the Great White North.
Though they have been bubbling near the surface for awhile, the Jets have now cemented themselves as one of, if not the best team in the division. Sure, other teams can boast about their own talent, but as far as results go, the proof was in the pudding in 2017-18.
Winnipeg finished in second in the division, barely, by a margin of three points. They won a record 52 games, more than they had ever achieved as the Jets.
They finished just a win shy of playing in the Stanley Cup Final. Now, they are going to set their sights on the next level.
Forwards
While we are still getting used to their names, in terms of production, the Jets might have the best group of forwards out there. They led the Western Conference in goals and only finished behind Tampa overall.
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Kyle Connor is already off to a good start with three points in two games after scoring 57 last season. Then of course, there is Patrick Laine and Blake Wheeler to contend with as well. They combined for 161 points in 2017-18 alone.
Adding trouble to the mix for their opponents, the only major piece the Jets lost from last year was a player they only had for a quarter of the season anyway. Paul Stastny elected to sign in Vegas, but the Jets are likely to be just fine without him.
Defense
If you are looking for a chink in the Jets’ armor, you might think it is defensively. They don’t have a lot of household names after Jacob Trouba.
Despite this, they play a hard, solid team defense. In fact, they allowed the second fewest goals in the Western Conference and third fewest in the league.
Of course, Dustin Byfuglien is always going to be the muscle back there making sure nobody can get comfortable in the Jets’ zone. Other than them, they all just play well within the system and are hard to break down.
Goaltending
Like the Chicago Blackhawks, the goaltending situation for Winnipeg is odd from an outsider’s perspective. No offense, but Conner Hellebuyck does not strike you as someone that should be as good as he has been.
Hellebuyck started 64 games in 2017-18 and won 44. He also had a save percentage of .924, with both the wins and save percentage marking career highs.
By now, there is no reason to think Hellebuyck will revert to his previous form, but it’s just a large jump going from 29 wins to 44 in one season. His team had a lot to do with it, but Hellebuyck was more than deserving of his All-Star spot and you could argue he could have won the Vezina (he finished second in the voting).
However, Hellebuyck will be counted on even more now. The Jets had two reliable backups in 2017-18. Now, they are using the untested Larent Brossoit. If you have not heard of him, it is because he has a total of 28 games in the NHL in the Edmonton system.
Hellebuyck will need to repeat his performance from last season to equal their win totals.
Conclusion
The Blues simply have to find a way to take down the Jets more often. They did not defeat the Jets in five games in 2016-17 and managed two wins out of four in 2017-18. Two wins in nine games is just not cutting it.
Winnipeg is a good team, but you just can’t have differences like that. They are not so far ahead of the Blues for there to be that large a margin between the two teams in the series.
However, the Jets simply seem to stay within themselves more. They proved that by not panicking and thrashing the Blues 5-1 in the first game of 2018-19 even though the game was close into the third period.
From the Winnipeg perspective, they are looking to take the next step. They almost played for the championship last season and they have a taste for more.
Taking that next step is never easy, no matter the talent though. Just ask the Dallas Stars about that.
Also, there are expectations to live up to. In 2017-18, the Jets were thought of as good but not great yet. Now, they are a trendy pick to win it all. Whether they can is down to goaltending and defending. We know they’ll score enough.