BUFFALO, N.Y. — Before Zach Werenski and his heavily taped left skate could win the game in the shootout, Charlie Coyle needed to keep the game alive with a shootout score two rounds earlier.
And before either of those two could play hero, Adam Fantilli delivered a momentous goal — the biggest of his career, so far — with only 16.2 seconds remaining in regulation to help the Columbus Blue Jackets avoid a regulation defeat.
Tuesday’s 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings in Little Caesars Arena required Blue Jackets players to stand and deliver with the game, and quite possibly their season, on the line. The postgame dressing room, for the first time in a while, was all smiles.
But the standout player whose performance was overshadowed by the late-game drama was the undrafted, unassuming goaltender on the far end of the ice. It’s been that way for most of the season for first-year NHLer Jet Greaves.
Before Fantilli, Coyle and Werenski could grab the moment, Greaves had to make it possible, with some big-time saves in critical moments, including a third-period stop on a breakaway by Detroit’s Lucas Raymond and two one-on-one denials in overtime on Red Wings forwards Andrew Copp and Dylan Larkin.
In the postgame dressing room, when the Blue Jackets presented the Johnny Gaudreau “donkey cap” to the players’ selection as player of the game, forward Mason Marchment stood with the cap and said:
“Good effort from everyone tonight. ‘Z,’ huge shootout goal. Fants, huge goal. But Jet was f—ing massive tonight!”
Greaves will likely get the start Thursday when the Blue Jackets play the Buffalo Sabres in their drive to end a five-year playoff drought. He’s started 10 of the Jackets’ last 13 games, winning the No. 1 job for the second time, and under a second coach, this season.
Rick Bowness, who took over behind the Blue Jackets’ bench Jan. 12, admittedly didn’t know much about Greaves when he arrived. But what he’s seen has impressed him, especially for a first-year player.
“It’s just calmness,” Bowness said. “He’s been very, very steady. He doesn’t get rattled.
“I’m always looking at him when he comes to the bench during a timeout. I’m always looking at his eyes, and his eyes are always very calm. So, I love that about him.”
Greaves has been universally loved, it seems, since he started coming up from AHL Cleveland for NHL spot duty three seasons ago.
He finally convinced coaches and general manager Don Waddell that he could be more than a spot starter at the end of last season, when he went on a six-game winning streak that nearly dragged the Blue Jackets into the playoffs.
During training camp before this season, then-coach Dean Evason opened up the competition to Greaves and Elvis Merzļikins, but even Merzļikins doubted Greaves could handle a full NHL load in his first season.
“My only question to you is, do you think Jet is going to handle 60 games?” Merzļikins said. “With all of the back-to-backs? Fifty to 60 games, you think Jet is going to handle that right away? First year? I’m just telling you, it’s hard.”
Greaves’ next start will be his 50th.
If Greaves has one shortcoming — we’re joking here, obviously — it’s that he doesn’t much enjoy talking about Jet Greaves. Even well-framed questions from reporters are swatted away like point-shot marshmallows.
Hilariously, Greaves even attempted to credit his teammates after stopping a penalty shot against the Philadelphia Flyers’ Noah Cates on March 24.
But those around him can talk about Greaves all day.
“First year in the league, you have your ups and downs, and it takes time to find your level, right?” Blue Jackets goaltending coach Niklas Backstrom said. “But it feels like since day one, he’s been settled.
“That’s just so impressive, especially with the schedule this year. Just game after game after game and not a lot of practice time. He’s handled it all, the pressure situations, the one-goal games, all of it.”
Most goaltenders lose their way at some point in the season, enduring stretches — three or four games, often longer — when the puck becomes a foreign object, when their angles and eyes need to be recalibrated.
Greaves hasn’t really slumped this season. Even when the Blue Jackets went on a 1-6-1 tailspin before Tuesday’s win, Greaves was their steadiest performer, logging a .916 save percentage, even as the club’s play crumbled all around him.
“What Jet does so well, I think, is he only worries about the next puck, the next shot,” Backstrom said. “He’s able to do that. He doesn’t get carried away in the moment.
“For sure he wasn’t happy with (Detroit’s third goal, scoring by Justin Faulk on Tuesday). But he didn’t carry that baggage. He was ready to make the saves we needed after that. He enjoys being dependable. He enjoys the pressure. He’s a gamer, for sure.”
Greaves, who turned 25 late last month, is 25-16-9 this season. His .910 save percentage was tied for seventh in the NHL through Tuesday’s games. According to MoneyPuck, Greaves is eighth in the league with 18.8 goals saved above expected.
It will be interesting to see how Bowness handles his two goaltenders the rest of the way. The Blue Jackets play Thursday in Buffalo and Saturday in Montreal, then face a tough back-to-back with a game at home Sunday against the Boston Bruins.
If the Blue Jackets are still alive for a playoff spot, does Bowness lean hard on Greaves? It has to be considered.
This is the time of the season, as seen Tuesday, when the stars come out. And Greaves has stamped himself a star this season, to be sure.
“Jet wants to get better every night,” Backstrom said. “He wants to push himself. It’s never about him, and it’s never about someone else making a mistake. It’s about what he could do to help them.
“It’s really impressive what he’s done in his first (NHL) season. He has the right attitude to be a really good goalie in this league for a long time.”
