Winnipeg Jets looks to sit in an excellent position to unlock the presidents’ trophy as they walk on the road to meet the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday.
Jets (54-21-4, 112 points) can compromise his first president’s trophy in Franchises history in Saturday’s collision with the bottom-feeding Blackhawks (23-46-10, 56 points).
The NHL leading jets participate in the competition with two straight wins to their name, including a 4-0 formation of the Dallas stars on Thursday.
Winnipeg entered Thursday’s battle with a four-point advantage compared to Dallas, but Connor Hellebulyck dropped the stars’ chances to catch the jets on top of the central division with a 25-spar suspension.
It was Hellebuyck’s 45th victory in the season and the eighth shutdown of the season, both a franchise record.
“It seems every night in the last month or so he has completed a new record. You can honestly not put words into how important he is to our team,” commented Jets defender Josh Morrissey about his star goal.
“As a teammate of Hans, I feel extremely lucky that I have had to play in front of him basically my entire career. What he does when it comes to preparation, how he always calculates ways to improve his game, is incredible. Even in recent years, you think,” man, I do not know if this guy can be better “, and then he thinks he is what he does, and I do this.
The twice the Vezina winner became only the seventh Netminder who won at least 45 games in a single season.
Jets’ top ahead Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele achieved the best of both careers in Thursday’s victory.
Connor’s two -goal performance gave its season -long points a total of up to 94 (40 goals, 54 assists), while Scheifele took up an assist to reach a career pile of 85 points (38 goals, 47 assists).
At the other end of the spectrum, the Blackhawks are far from putting some positive records because they play for pride alone this season.
The youthful Chicago squad has struggled to sprinkle some strong performance lately but succeeded with 5-2 victory over the Boston Bruins on Thursday.
Veteran forward Nick Foligno did twice and Ryan Donato reached the 30-goal plateau for the first time in his career with a third period.
“Ryan has the ability to shoot the puck, and everything comes together,” Foligno said of his younger teammate. “It’s a special year for him, a contract year, becomes a father, and you can see things start sorting a little for him and who he is, and he has probably become more comfortable with who he is as a person. He has a big role here, and it is allowed to play to the abilities he has, and we are happy for him. He has been a great competitor for us, and we are happy with him.”
Donato became the first Blackhawks rider to scored 30 goals during a season since Alex Debrincat amounted to 41 years 2021-22.
Tyler Bertuzzi and Kevin Korchinski also found the back of the net for a Chicago squad that had entered into Thursday’s competition with six losses over their previous seven excursions (1-5-1).
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