Jets’ Laurent Brossoit staying laser-focused between rare starts – Sportsnet.ca

WINNIPEG — The ice was empty, with the exception of Laurent Brossoit and goalie coach Wade Flaherty.

With roughly 30 minutes to go before practice officially began, Brossoit was laser-focused on executing his side-to-side fundamentals with precision.

It would be five more days before his first start in nearly three weeks, but that willingness to put in the work when almost no one was watching would eventually pay dividends for the Winnipeg Jets backup goalie.

Mental toughness is a prerequisite for anyone in the backup job, where the line between pedestrian and excellent can often be razor-thin.

On Friday night against the Vancouver Canucks, Brossoit left no question which column this performance would fall under, turning aside all 29 shots he faced to lead the Jets to a 2-0 victory at Rogers Place.

“(Brossoit) was excellent. Obviously, our best player,” said Jets defenceman Neal Pionk. “He’s got one of the harder jobs in the league. He knows that (Connor Hellebuyck) is going to get most of the games and he comes in and he’s been ready to play this year. It’s been awesome.”

It was the second shutout of Brossoit’s NHL career, with both of them coming in Vancouver against the Canucks (the other came on Dec. 22, 2018).

Shining in his home province brought a wide smile to his face when the topic was broached during his post-game interview.

“If there’s a city I want to have those stats, it’s probably this one. I’ll take it,” said Brossoit, who has turned aside all 88 shots he’s faced in three NHL appearances in Vancouver, including a relief stint with the Edmonton Oilers in October of 2017. “I mean, whether I’m playing or not, my day-to-day looks the same. It’s not too difficult to stay prepared. I’ve got my routine and I stick to it.”

Brossoit made a number of impressive saves, including one on Canucks defenceman Nate Schmidt on a clear-cut breakaway.

Although the puck got behind Brossoit for a brief moment, he was able to reach back and cover it up before it crossed the goal line.

“I felt fast and on that breakaway, I felt a little bit too fast. I overreacted a bit,” said Brossoit, who improved to 3-1, lowered his goals-against average to 2.24 and raised his save percentage to .935. “Saw he was going blocker and jammed my blocker out toward the puck and a bit of an overreaction so it hit my armpit and I felt it dropped and I made sure I covered it up.”

In a condensed season, the Jets knew they were going to have to lean on Brossoit more than they did last year, when Hellebuyck started 56 of 71 games before the pause.

With Brossoit’s ability to stay as sharp as he has in the early stages of the season, he’s instilled confidence in his teammates and the coaching staff — which is essential given how hectic the schedule is about to become.

Even when the reigning Vezina Trophy winner needs to take a night off, the Jets are confident there won’t be much — if any — dropoff between the pipes.

“Yeah, and maybe less so this year, but in the past, yeah, he’s gone long runs (between starts) because of the schedule, and been able to come up with some really good performances,” said Jets head coach Paul Maurice. “He’s underrated, and rightfully so Connor Hellebuyck gets all the accolades that he should, he’s a Vezina winner, but our goaltending tandem is just exceptionally strong.

“(Brossoit) is just so powerful getting from post to post. He had a couple of really good stays where he had to get across hard, but by the time he got there he was really in his own structure, he was composed with it. And then the rebound control. There was maybe one that got away from him, the rest he had a real good handle on the first shot and then put the puck where he needed to put it. He was just right on.”

This is the third consecutive season that Hellebuyck and Brossoit have worked as a tandem and having a strong personal relationship has served them well.

They train together and incorporate many of the same movements in the crease, which could create a series of spin-off benefits.

“They both agree on the same philosophies of where they’re trying to put pucks off shots, how they get across the net on certain things,” said Maurice. “I might be reaching on this one, but it may be subconscious. They both play the puck with a similar mindset. For your defence, they get to come back to the same holes, if you will, for the outlet (pass).

“Two very, very big men and neither one of them scrambles. They’re both square and strong in the net. And the pucks come off them, a lot of the times, in the same way. There’s no difference in the room going out to the ice or in the way our back end plays, regardless of who is playing in the net. And that may well be all of those nuance things that aren’t spoken about, they’re just played with. I think there’s an advantage there, I would agree with that.”

The Jets were coming off a split against the Edmonton Oilers, winning a 6-5 game that they could have easily lost because of how loose things got defensively and losing a 3-2 game that they could have easily won, were it not for a couple of defensive lapses during a span of 21 seconds.

So as they looked to rebound from a loss that was much closer to resembling the template they’d hope to employ to enjoy some sustained success, it was critical for the Jets to not abandon the willingness to pay attention to the defensive details.

By improving to 5-0-1 after suffering a loss this season, the Jets are 10-6-1 going into Sunday’s rematch with the Canucks.

“It’s hard to win in this league and it’s hard to get on a roll of winning. If you lose a game in the NHL, you should come out the next night and have a little extra intensity, a little extra burr in the saddle, so to speak, in terms of not wanting to lose two in a row,” said Jets defenceman Josh Morrissey. “That’s the identity of a great team. That’s another fundamental that we’re trying to play to and have every day as a part of our identity. And then, you just handle that situation. Things are going to happen. You might lose two in a row, who knows. Try to never let that happen and continue to up that intensity level.”

Prior to a late empty-netter from Mason Appleton — which came after a couple of superb defensive efforts from Pionk — the Jets’ lone marker came from centre Mark Scheifele, who got in alone on Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko and beat him with a nifty forehand-backhand deke.

“I obviously saw he was far out of the net, but he’s a pretty stellar goaltender, a big body, so I just kind of made my move and he bit a little bit so I was happy to put it in,” said Scheifele, who extended his point streak to nine games. “I don’t get many breakaways, so it’s fun when you put them in.”

Scheifele’s skill set was on full display as he moved to nine goals and 22 points in 17 games.

“I saw a move that I couldn’t pull off, that’s for sure. Mark is an elite hockey player, that’s definitely right up his alley, the skill part,” said Pionk. “The other day in the hotel, we were talking about hockey and some of the skill stuff and a lot of it went right over my head.

“He thinks about things that a lot of people don’t think about. It was a heck of a move and got us going in the right direction.”

The other guy that got the Jets going on Friday was Brossoit.

“Yeah, he’s been fantastic. Every game he comes in he gives us a chance to win,” said Scheifele. “It’s pretty awesome when you have two great goalies that no matter who’s in, we know we’re going to get their best. It’s definitely huge when you have your backup that plays so amazing on pretty much every night.

“He works his bag off every single day. He comes to the rink and he’s one of the fittest guys on our team, does all the things to prepare every single day so you know those guys that come in day in and day out and work their hardest and give it their all and prepare their bodies like Laurent does, it’s something that’s so commendable and we see it every single day. We see the work he puts in on and off the ice and it’s awesome to see him shine on the ice as well.”

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