Hellebuyck's triumphant return sparks the Jets' dominant offensive surge, securing a resounding 5-1 victory and reclaiming their season's momentum.
They say one player can't make or break a team.
Try telling that to Connor Hellebuyck and the Winnipeg Jets.
The league's reigning back-to-back Vezina and Jennings Trophy winner and last season's Hart Trophy victor returned to the net for Winnipeg following an 11-game recovery from arthroscopic knee surgery, to which the Jets went 2-8-1.
His presence was immediately felt.
It was felt throughout the arena from warmup through the final horn, as Winnipeg put together its first stellar outing of the season at home, taking care of business against Alex Ovechking and the Washington Capitals.
The Jets scored twice in the first and second periods, before adding another in the third en route to a 5-1 victory on Saturday.
Gabe Vilardi scored twice, while Logan Stanley, Morgan Barron and Alex Iafallo added singles for the Jets, which pulled back to .500 on the season with their 15th victory in game No. 31 (15-15-1).
Stanley got things going for the Jets in the opening frame, collected the rebound off an intentionally wide shot-pass from Josh Morrissey 9:13 into the game. The goal was Stanley's fifth of the season, which put him above 18 other Jets teammates for goals on the season.
Barron made it 2-0 late in the period, finishing off a rush passing play by Adam Lowry, deflecting his fifth of the campaign past Logan Thompson, drawing even with Stanley on the season.
Winnipeg outshot the Capitals by a whopping 10 shots through 20 minutes (13-3) and took that advantage into the middle stanza.
Iafallo grabbed his sixth of the year, as he turned and fired the puck into the net off Capitals' defenceman Justin Sourdif.
With Nic Dowd in the box for a dangerous crosscheck on Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg needed just 29 seconds to make the visitors pay on a fast acting power play. It was Vilardi who got his 15th of the season on a nifty passing play from Morrissey and linemate Kyle Connor.
Winnipeg maintained a 23-12 shot lead heading into the final frame. It wasn't a two-goal period like the first two, but the Jets did manage to hold off the Capitals' offence, shutting down Alex Ovechkin and Co., en route to a decisive victory.
Vilardi put the finishing touches on a pretty top-line passing play, off a crafty interception from Scheifele. No. 55 got the puck to Connor, who dished it to Vilardi. He buried it past Thompson for his second of the game and 16th of the season.
The Jets found themselves down two men with 4:30 to play as Vilardi (trip) and Luke Schenn (holding) gave the Capitals a lengthy five-on-three advantage. After killing off a good stretch of the disadvantage, the Jets gave up their first of the game.
Jakob Chychrun scored with 3:28 to play in the game and 17 seconds left in the two-man advantage, ruining Hellebuyck's bid for a shutout.
“It’s been a grind; it’s been tough," Hellebuyck said of his recovery. "Just a phenomenal job from top to bottom. Pete (MacDonald), great surgeon. Adam (Francilia) just did a phenomenal job with me. Behnad (Honarbakhsh) in Vancouver. We saw a couple guys who really helped flush the system and get the blood pumping. Then the staff here, just so great. They were involved in every single way they possibly could. Just top to bottom, everyone worked so hard, so that’s why we got back early.”
The Jets' training staff including Rob Millete and Jake Wolff were also key to Hellebuyck's recovery to be back three weeks into his expected four-to-six recovery.
“I said Day 1 that it was going to take me three weeks," he said.
"I know I’ve got a great team around me and I know how hard I was going to work. It was a lot of hours and a lot of dialling some things in and making sure I didn’t take any steps back. Every day I was taking big steps forward. I felt like I started ahead of schedule already, so like I said it was just a great job from everyone involved and I am very grateful to have them in my bubble.”
Nino Niederreiter was honoured in a pre-game ceremony for reaching 1,000 career NHL games. He was presented with the fifth silver stick in Jets franchise history, a custom painting a crystal award from the team to commentate his special occasion. Tribute messages from around the world were played on the jumbotron, including a special greeting from tennis legend Roger Federer. Niederreiter's family was present and joined him and teammates on the ice for a photo op prior to puck drop.
"I mean, it was amazing. It was something I will never forget. Always, like I said, as a little boy, you dream about moments like this, and top it off as a win like that. It was amazing," Niederreiter shared.
Hellebuyck was stellar in his return to action, turning aside 23 of the 24 shots sent his way by Washington. Thompson made 30 stops on the evening.
"Tonight is definitely the way we need to play for 60 minutes and for more than one game," Neiderreiter added. "That is something in which we gotta do and obviously Monday is another big day for us, and we have to make sure we play some great hockey until Christmas."
Winnipeg will close out its four-game homestand with a test against the Ottawa Senators on Monday evening. That game can be viewed live on Amazon at 6:30 PM central.