3 studs and 3 duds from a lopsided Jets Game 7 win over Preds
The Winnipeg Jets took control of Game 7 against the Nashville Predators and never looked back, winning 5-1. Here are three players who stepped up in the winner-take-all affair, and three who did not.
Studs
Connor Hellebuyck
Hellebuyck was calm, cool, and collected in the Jets' crease, stopping 36 of 37 shots that came his way. The only puck that beat him was off a P.K. Subban power-play blast that went in off the post. Even when the Predators amped up the tempo late, Hellebuyck was there to weather the storm.
Paul Stastny
Maybe the best trade-deadline acquisition of all time? Stastny notched two goals in Game 7, including the game-winner. The Jets generated 62.96 percent of the shot attempts and 66.67 percent of the scoring chances while Stastny was on the ice (at 5-on-5), both of which led the team.
Mark Scheifele
Scheifele had two goals, though one was an empty-netter. It's tough to choose between him and linemate Blake Wheeler since they both had phenomenal games, but Scheifele gets a slight edge. In addition to his nose for the net, he also had three hits and three blocked shots in the contest.
Duds
Pekka Rinne
Game 7 nightmares could keep Rinne up at night all summer long. He allowed two early goals and was yanked less than 11 minutes into the game. To make matters worse, both goals were awfully ugly on his part.
Ryan Ellis
It was also a game to forget for Ellis. He could've been much more aggressive on Statsny's first goal, as he allowed him to walk in and get not one, but two shots on Rinne - even if they were both from a bad angle. He finished with two giveaways, was on the ice for three goals against, and nine scoring chances against at 5-on-5 - the second-most on the team.
Roman Josi
Given that he's paired with Ellis, it's not all that surprising that Josi didn't have his best game, either. He had two giveaways, was on the ice for three goals and a team-high 10 scoring chances against at 5-on-5. We're accustomed to the Josi-Ellis pairing controlling the game and driving offense, but they failed to do that when it mattered most.
(Advanced stats courtesy: Natural Stat Trick)
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)