Stuart Skinner Gives the Winnipeg Jets Reasons to Believe

I'm not going to get carried away after one Winnipeg Jets game. The season is still very early. But I have to admit, I really liked what I saw from Stuart Skinner against the Colorado Avalanche. In his team’s 3-2 win, he stopped 32 of 34 shots, and some of those saves were huge. Colorado came at the Jets in waves, especially early, and Skinner kept finding a way to be there. He was at the top of his crease, moving efficiently from side to side and, as the broadcasters kept pointing out, keeping the puck in front of him.

There was one save where he seemed to stretch forever to get across. Those are the saves we remember. But I'm more interested in something Kyle Connor said after the game. He talked about how calm and composed Skinner was and said, “He gives us so much confidence.”

Skinner’s play is giving his team confidence in their own game.

That's what a goaltender can give a hockey team that doesn't show up in the save percentage. Confidence. When your goalie is making those saves, you don't have to play the next shift thinking, We'd better score because we can't give up another one. You can just play.

I thought that was particularly important for these Jets. There has been plenty of change around Winnipeg. There has been plenty of outside noise. New faces and a different feeling around the room.

And then the Jets lost Josh Morrissey during the game. That could have been one more reason for everybody to start looking around, wondering what happens next. Instead, the message seemed to be pretty simple: next man up. The Jets kept playing.

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And Skinner was a big part of just playing.

What I liked most wasn't that he looked spectacular, although he certainly did early in the game. It was that he looked comfortable. There was a steadiness to him. Maybe that's what Winnipeg needs from him.

Not to be a superhero every night. Not to make 40 saves every game. Just to give the team a chance and let the players in front of him believe that if they do their jobs, they have a chance to win. That's a pretty important job.

And maybe there is something else here. Skinner is coming to Winnipeg with his own story. He knows people are watching. He knows there are questions. But the best answer a goaltender can give is usually the simplest one. Stop the puck.

Against Colorado, he did that. More importantly, his teammates seemed to believe he would. And sometimes that's how a new hockey team starts becoming a hockey team.

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