The President’s Trophy-winning Winnipeg Jets have been pushed to a game seven. Connor Hellebuyck is a big reason why the Jets are here in the first place, in more ways than one. In the regular season, Hellebuyck, at 31, recorded his best season statistically. Over 63 games played, he had a 2.00 goals-against average and a .925 save percentage. It is bonkers to be that good over such a long stretch of games. It’s no wonder he’s the shoo-in for the Vezina trophy and a favorite by many to win the Hart trophy.
Unfortunately, in another sense, Hellebuyck is the reason the Jets now have a game seven back in Winnipeg. He hasn’t been good, to say the least, these playoffs. He has been chased in all three of the Jets’ away games while posting a 4.42 goals-against average and just a .815 save percentage. People can speculate as long as they’d like why this might be. Nerves, bad defense, a different style of game in the playoffs, but it’s impossible to narrow it down to just one. Instead, let’s take a walk down memory lane. Perhaps a pattern can help make more sense as to why the world’s best goaltender can’t ever seem to get it done when it matters most.
The Jets wouldn’t make the postseason until Hellebuyck’s second year as a full-time starter, and boy, did he not disappoint. This was also the farthest the Jets have made it in their entire existence, so no pressure. In round one, Winnipeg faced the Minnesota Wild. In his playoff debut, Hellebuyck looked outstanding, only allowing an average of 1.8 goals per game. This included two shutouts to close out the series. The offense helped support the first-timer as well, scoring 3.2 goals per game. For a guy who gets the narrative that nerves affect him big time, it seems odd that in his first-ever playoff series, he was lights out.
Round two was a seven-game barn burner by both sides. The Nashville Predators ultimately bowed out in seven games, losing 5-1 as the Jets moved on to the conference finals. In the chaos of it all, Hellebuyck escaped with a 3.28 goals-against average. Not bad for a seven-game high-scoring series. At the end of the day, in the playoffs, wins matter most, and Hellebuyck came out of the series with four.
In the Winnipeg Jets’ first-ever conference finals, things didn’t exactly go their way. They won the first game 4-2 against the Las Vegas Golden Knights. This was their first-ever season as a team, so game one made many think that the miracle run may be over. That thought was quickly put to rest when the Golden Knights quickly rattled off four straight to advance to the Stanley Cup finals. Helleybuyck played fairly well in this series as well, he walked away with a 2.8 GAA on the series. Unfortunately, his offense left him out to dry, as they failed to score more than three goals in games 2-5.
His playoff totals for his first-ever playoff run came with a 2.36 GAA and a .922 SV%, not too shabby.
This was a rare year in which Hellebuyck played better in the postseason compared to the regular season. The Jets’ playoff run would be cut much shorter than the years past, as they lost in six games to the St. Louis Blues. This was the year of the Blues’ miracle cup run, so one could say this series was just a casualty of destiny. Hellebuyck didn’t even play all that bad either, as he ended the series with a 2.67 GAA and a .913 SV%. This was much better than his 2.90 GAA in the regular season, but as a labeled playoff chocker, nobody cares too much about that. And as previously stated, all that matters in the postseason is wins.
This was the COVID year for most sports, which resulted in a playoff format change. The Jets technically only made the qualifying round of this postseason, but for fun, it’s worth taking a look at. Especially as this was the first year that Hellebuyck had a “bad” postseason. This was a best-of-five series against the Calgary Flames, in which the Flames dominated Winnipeg. Losing in four games, Hellebuyck had a 3.04 GAA and a 9.04 SV%. Not great by any stretch of the imagination, but there have been plenty of worse performances by other goaltenders in the playoffs. Overall, this year could be considered a wash as COVID-19 threw a lot of things off.
Another weird playoff year, this time due to completely different divisions as a result of COVID-19 traveling restrictions. This resulted in the Jets playing two Canadian teams in back-to-back series. The first was against the high-flying Edmonton Oilers. Winnipeg was considered the underdogs in this series, but geez, they came out with a fire lit under them. They blew the Oilers out of the water, sweeping them in four games. Hellebuyck was vintage in this series, allowing an average of just two goals per game, which included a shutout in game two. One could even say that Hellebuyck was extremely clutch in this series, as he won three overtime games this series, including a three-overtime thriller in game four.
Unfortunately, the Jets would once again fall victim to a team on a miracle run. This time it was the Montreal Canadiens, who had an improbable run to the Stanley Cup finals this year. This time, it was Winnipeg who got swept in four, and they didn’t put up much of a fight either. Hellebuyck had his fair share of struggles this series, allowing 3.5 GAA, but the team in front of him didn’t give him much help either. They mustered a measly 1.5 goals per game against the Canadiens.
After missing the playoffs in the year prior, Jets fans were excited to watch their team in the postseason the following year.
This time, they were slated to face the Golden Knights in round one, the same team that ended their run in 2018. The series was eerily similar to the previous one, as the Jets jumped out to a 1-0 series lead after a 5-1 win. But just like in 2018, the Knights woke up and won four straight to send the Jets packing faster than they could have expected. This was also Hellebuyck’s first really bad playoff performance. After his dominant game-one win, he would go on to let in at least four or more goals in the following four losses.
For a guy who’s put the team on his back in prior years, though, most fans wrote this off as a one-time thing.
This was a series that everybody would like to forget. Winnipeg faced the Colorado Avalanche in a series that most thought would be very close and even go the distance. They were sorely wrong, as this series was a disaster for the Jets and Connor Hellebuyck. They once again won game one, this time eking out a win with a score that is more commonly seen on a football scoreboard, 7-6. It was all downhill from there, though, the Jets lost an all-too-familiar four in a row in which Hellebuyck was flat-out bad. He never had a game where he allowed less than five goals and would finish the series with a 5.23 GAA and a .870 SV%.
This is when the narrative behind Hellebuyck’s playoff struggles started up. After lots of ups and downs in the postseason, some started to speculate that Hellebuyck just wasn’t cut out for another deep playoff run, citing his recent performances as proof. Some came to his defense, claiming that his defense completely fell apart in the Colorado series. This is true, but as an elite goalie, sometimes you’re expected to stand on your head in some games. Ultimately, it was back to the drawing board for Winnipeg and its star goaltender.
Winnipeg smashed regular-season expectations this year, and Hellebuyck is poised to win his third Vezina trophy. They are the one seed in this year’s playoffs and got pitted against the St. Louis Blues once again. Many figured that this could finally be the year that the Jets have another deep playoff run, but now that’s all up in the air.
Hellebuyck has yet again struggled this series, but it’s not over yet, as they have a game seven on Sunday. Boy, though, has he been bad, maybe even worse than last year. In six games, he owns a 4.42 GAA and an eye-popping .815 SV%. These stats could be even worse if he weren’t yanked in the Jets’ three away games. Now, in perhaps a career-defining game, Hellebuyck needs to step up more than ever.
Hellebuyck has had a roller coaster of a playoff career, but he may be getting a little more disrespect than he deserves. Yes, the past two postseasons have been bad, really bad, but that shouldn’t discredit his previous years. If you remove the past two years’ worth of stats, Hellebuyck has a 2.75 GAA and a .91 SV%, which is not bad at all. Without him, the Jets wouldn’t be anywhere near the playoffs in some, if not all, years, so riding out the bad moments should be expected. Who knows, maybe a game seven win could be the start of something special in Winnipeg, especially with the Dallas Stars and Avs beating each other to a bloody pulp.
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