I wasn't able to watch first 3 games of this series, and last night I got my timezones wrong and only hopped in for the 2nd period. I have to say it looked exactly like I feared it would - Vegas with strong forecheck and overall just working very hard, Fleury standing on his head and Helle crapping the bed with a real softie after the equalizer. Heck, that wasn't even a softie, he basically created a situation out of nothing.
I don't care what he says in interviews, he can say whatever he needs to say, but this far his approach isn't working. He needs to figure it out. Goalies are weird creatures, the margins between great play and poor play are so small. However Helle is dealing with having a bad game, clearly it isn't working because he seems unable to have a bounce back game in this series. Maybe he should try owning up to crap play. If he truly liked his game after game 4 then I don't know what to say, maybe someone needs to yell him straight. Rinne for example after a bad game seems to beat himself down and own up to even more than he really was responsible. For him it seems to work, always seems to have a strong game after a loss that can in any way be put down to him. This far Helle hasn't shown that ability. He's young though and first time in this type of situations at the NHL level at least.
I was feeling totally gutted after the game and was sure there's no way the Jets can win 3 straight against Vegas, but then again Vegas won 3 straight against the Jets. There's absolutely no reason the tables can't be turned. Granted, Vegas has had the easier road to this point, so they have the upper hand. But also the way they play, I think they'll start wearing down if the Jets manage to drag this series on. If Helle can give us 3 good games in a row, there's no reason why the Jets can't still advance to finals. This is not the time to give up. When you get to conference finals, you don't go "oh well, it was a good run". Not as a fan and definitely not as a player. There are some very good hockey players I'm sure who never have been in a position to get even this far. There's no guarantee this group of Jets players ever get here again, no matter how good team they have.
Is Mason healhty, it seems Hutchinson was the back up last night? Because honestly, based on the results of this series this far, if I were the coach I'd probably be trying to ride Mason if he's healthy. For the little amount of games he's played this season, I always liked him. During the regular season Helle was the better goalie, but Mason always looked good enough to give a chance at winning. But really, I don't have the information needed for that decision. The coaching staff should know Helle well enough to read all the signs if he'll bounce back and also get the vibe in the room, if changing the goalie would make the players feel better and more confident or not. It's a young team and having a bad game from the goalie 3 times in a row gotta be eating on them, especially after the year Helle had in 16-17... must be bringing back some memories, and not good ones...
Also Fleury is no Hasek and he's been one of the flukiest top goalies in the past at least IMO. Sure, he has played great so far, but the Jets shouldn't fear or respect him too much. But they do need to find a way to tear him down for a game.