Michael Hutchinson was first really noticed by mass of Jets fans during the Calder Cup run by the St. John’s Ice Caps. He came into this season with a few questions marks but as of November 28th in Boston, the kid won the hearts of Jet supporters everywhere. He has been stellar to start the 2014-15 season and is truly making a case for a shot at the starting position. How has he done it? Let’s take a look.
The Basics
|
|
Even Strength |
Special Teams |
Total |
|
Shots Against |
190 |
48 |
238 |
|
Saves |
181 |
43 |
224 |
|
Goals Against |
9 |
5 |
14 |
|
Save Percentage |
.953 |
.896 |
.941 |
These numbers are nothing short of fantastic. I'll reiterate that Hutch has still only speared in 10 games, and this is definitely still a pretty small sample size to make too much of a determination on, but wow. As of right now (Dec 11th) the man being called Clutchinson is leading the NHL is both save percentage and goals against average. I understand that for the most part Pavelec has had a better year, but he has continued to regress pretty heavily over the last couple weeks. It may be time to give Hutch a small run of games to see what the kid can really do.
Situations
|
|
Even Strength |
Special Teams |
Total |
|
Odd Man Rush |
22.2% (2) |
0 |
14.3% (2) |
|
Sustained Pressure |
22.2% (2) |
60% (3) |
35.7% (5) |
|
Average Play/Breakout/OZ Faceoff |
55.6% (5) |
40% (2) |
50% (7) |
|
Turnover in Zone |
0 |
0 |
0 |
This is generally an indication of how the Jets have been playing in front of the goaltenders, and I think one thing has been decently clear lately. After a pretty brutal start to the year, the Jets have really limited the gigantic, costly errors in their own end (as indicated by the stagnancy of odd man rush goals against, and no turnovers leading to goals yet). Some may say this is due to Buff being moved to forward, but I'm not totaled sold on that (he's been back on D for 2 of Hutch's starts, during with nothing horrid really happening).
Combined that cleaned up play with a few pretty big saves when the Jets have needed them, and you have a team that's been able to win lately.
Reasons
|
|
Even Strength |
Special Teams |
Total |
|
Bad Break/Deflection/Traffic |
33.3% (3) |
60% (3) |
42.9% (6) |
|
Out of Position |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Rebound |
22.2% (2) |
20% (1) |
21.4% (3) |
|
Beat Clean – Goalie @ Fault |
22.2% (2) |
0 |
14.3% (2) |
|
Beat Clean – Goalie Not Faulted |
22.2% (2) |
20% (1) |
21.4% (3) |
This displays a major factor of Michael Hutchinson’s game that I absolutely love. Zero goals out of position. Hutch is so calm, relaxed, and poised in his net that he gives himself a chance to get in front of absolutely every shot attempt he faces. He uses his long legs very well to cover the base of the net while in his butterfly, allowing him to remain calm when traffic gathers around him. He’s also gotten much better at kicking the pucks out and away from the net when he gets the chance.
Speaking of which, Hutch has really seemed to clean up his early season rebound problems as well. He has only allowed one rebound goal against since his first start of the year. This has led to teams really needing to get traffic in front to create goals, (something that often relies on a lucky bounce) or hope for a defensive zone breakdown. That's how you limit goals against.
Goal Locations
|
|
Even Strength |
Special Teams |
Total |
|
Five Hole |
11.1% (1) |
0 |
7.1% (1) |
|
Glove Hand |
22.2% (2) |
20% (1) |
21.4% (3) |
|
Blocker Side |
33.3% (3) |
20% (1) |
28.6% (4) |
|
Left Pad |
0 |
20% (1) |
7.1% (1) |
|
Right Pad |
0 |
20% (1) |
7.1% (1) |
|
Open Net |
33.3% (3) |
20% (1) |
28.6% (4) |
As is the case with most goaltenders, you have a better chance of scoring on Hutch when you go high. In fact, if you go low on Hutch you have very little chance of scoring at all. His only five hole goal against was a re-direction in front of the net, and he is yet to be beaten low at even strength. The kid has been fantastic.
Evidence
Goal 1 @ Boston (Nov 28th)
Let's start with the game that really grabbed everyone's attention. It also happens to be the only goal that managed to beat Hutch five hole, but as I mentioned above you'll see why there wasn't much he could do with it.
Things start off pretty well for the Jets here. It's close to a 3 on 2, but Scheifele is putting a decent amount of pressure on Lucic.
But then Milan Lucic decides to remember that he is an animal, and pretty much tosses Scheifele off of his back. This creates a decent bit of separation as Scheif stumbles, and suddenly the Jets are in a bit of trouble.
Soderberg quickly notices the separation, and sends the puck to the front of the net…
And as Hutch briefly separates his legs to push across, Lucic deflects the puck absolutely perfectly five hole for the game tying goal.
Goal 2 vs. Colorado (Dec 5th)
There were plenty of instances available for me to show Mark Stuart doing something wrong leading to either opportunities or goals against the Jets. I chose this one in particular so I can justify a couple decisions I made.
First things first, the Jets are on the penalty kill when Stu decides to challenge along the boards. This caused Jacob Trouba to pay attention to the Avalanche player in the corner, which forced Scheifele down to respect Landeskog in the slot and leave Redmond wide open.
Two quick passes later, and Zach Redmond is wide open with a LOT of space to work with. Stuart is trying to recover back to the net, while Scheifele and Trouba both attempt to compensate for the open man.
Trouba sells out in an attempt to block a potential shot attempt as Stuart gets back to the front of the net. Halischuk loses his footing, leaving the Jets in a bit of trouble.
For some reason, rather than doing the logical thing and tying up the man in front, Stuart decides to illegally hit him from behind (he's actually pretty lucky to have not drawn a penalty on this play). Not only is this play illegal, but he is hitting a guy right into his goaltender, who is about to make an attempt to slide cross crease. Meanwhile, Zach Redmond makes a pretty fantastic pass across the ice.
Hutchinson is completely taken out of the play and Stuart stands to admire his work as the Avs score. Due to the unfortunate series of events that led to this goal, I deemed it as a 'bad break' for Hutchinson, scored into an open net.
Goal 1 @ Dallas (Dec 9th)
Buff took a lot of heat on twitter for this goal, but I’m not exactly sure if it was entirely his fault. You’ll see why, but I think it was largely a miscommunication between him and the young Ben Chiarot.
Off of the face-off, Byfuglien makes a quick aggressive play to attack the Stars player along the boards but loses his stick in the process.
The puck gets cycled down along the boards, but the Jets are still in pretty good position here with a lot of space covered.
This is where things start to break down. Clearly Buff is trying to direct traffic, but only he and Chiarot know what was said. Based on what happens next, I think Buff had intended to take the man in the corner, and wanted Ben to take the front of the net.
The puck gets cycled down low, but suddenly both Buff and Chiarot are in the same place. Ladd is taking the man in the slot, leaving the ever-dangerous Tyler Sequin wide open.
You can see here that Chiarot tried to react and scrambled to move, while Byfuglien stood his ground. This indicates to me that Buff wanted Chiarot to take Sequin at the side of the net, but again, we don't know this for sure. Regardless, a couple quick passes later and Tyler Sequin has a gaping net to look at.
Summary
Hutch has really started to see more games lately, as Paul Maurice has publicly stated that he doesn't want either goalie to go longer than 7 days without seeing game action. It's well deserved playing time for the kid, but one has to wonder what more he would have to do to fully take over the starting job.
What do you think? Should Hutch be playing more? Should he be the starter? Let us know in the comment section below.
| Option | Votes |
|---|---|
| Yes | 116 |
| No | 6 |
