The NHL named Blue Jackets goaltender Jet Greaves its first star for the week ending April 13th. After being recalled ahead of last Thursday's game against the Buffalo Sabres, Greaves helped the team to a 3-0-0 record in games that were critical to their playoff chances.
After starting for the Cleveland Monsters on Wednesday (and winning), Jet was a late recall by the Jackets after Elvis Merzlikins left practice early on Thursday. With a game that night, the team needed him to arrive quickly just to help them through a tough situation.
He did way more than arrive to help out. He took to the nets for the second day in a row, this time in a meaningful NHL game. He stopped 39 Sabres shots en route to a 3-2 comeback win.
We knew this would springboard him into another start over the weekend, which came on Saturday. In another crucial game against the Eastern Conference leading Washington Capitals, Greaves made 22 saves, earning his first career NHL shutout in a 7-0 victory.
With the team suddenly back into the playoff conversation, Dean Evason rewarded his team by rolling out the exact same lineup on Sunday - including Greaves in goal. He was rewarded by another stellar performance from both the team and its young netminder. Jet made 29 saves in a 4-1 victory, pushing the Jackets to within three points of the Montreal Canadiens for the final wild card spot in the east.
All told, he went out and stopped 90 of 93 shots last week (a .968% save percentage), with one shutout and a 3-0-0 record. His play clearly energized a team that was running out of gas late in its season.
Including that AHL start last Wednesday, Jet played 4 professional hockey games across two levels in 5 days - winning them all. In more than 30 years of watching hockey, I can't recall another similar occurrence.
It seems like he's here to stay.
With just two games remaining on the CBJ schedule - and a day of rest between each of them - I fully expect Jet Greaves to close it out with two more starts. They will need to win both games (and get help) to get into the playoffs, and he's clearly the guy giving them the best chance to win right now.
We wrote just last week about Daniil Tarasov's lack of trust from the organization. And, whatever is ailing Elvis Merzlikins, hasn't even allowed him to return to practice to this point. But, even if he does, Greaves just beat out the league's best player (Connor McDavid) and its obvious Vezina Trophy winner (Connor Hellebuyck) for first star of the week honors. Would they really send him back down now?
It's hard to see the team going with anyone else, as long as these games have meaning. After the NHL season is over, if they miss the playoffs, they can still send him back to Cleveland for a playoff run there. One thing that we know for sure: he will be a Columbus Blue Jacket next fall. He's earned that opportunity.