Connor Hellebuyck pulls the blues tie series with the jets again

Winnipeg Jets goalkeeper Connor Hellebuyck has made his second straight playoff game from Sunday for the first time in his career, after five goals from the 5-1 rout of St. Louis Blues.

The St. Louis victory tied for the first-round Western Conference series with a 2-2 run, with Game 5 held in Winnipeg on Wednesday.

Hellebuyck also tugged from Thursday's 7-2 loss after allowing six goals in 25 goals. 11 goals were posted in two crucial playoff road games, contrary to what Hellebuyck could do at home, with only four goals while helping Winnipeg get a 2-0 lead in St. Louis.

Now, the NHL Presidential Trophy champion, who tops the league's regular season rankings with a 116-point competition, is fighting a third of the Blues. Hellebuyck's implosion in the last two games is a big reason why Winnipeg feels about the Heat.

Jets coach Scott Arniel tried to dislike the flames in Sunday's post-match media supply as he put all his weight behind Hellebuyck.

“I have 100% confidence in Connor Hellebuyck,” Arniel. “His resume speaks. At the end of the day, we need to be better in front of him. We need to let him see some hockey. We have to do something to help him. And, he has to do something to help us.”

Hellebuyck is like the Jets themselves – the regular season regular season made him a favorite of the third Veziina Trophy, the top goalkeeper in the NHL and made him a Hart Trophy finalist for league MVP honors. He scored a league-high 47 wins on the cage guarding the Jets, earning .925 SV% and 2.00 GAA.

One obvious question for Hellebuyck in the playoffs was how St. Louis screened the puck, and the Jets’ defense didn’t have enough boxing in front of the net to give Hellebuyck a look at the upcoming shot. Winnipeg also didn't offer much offensive support to Hellebuyck – the Jets average fourth-place goal (2.50 per game), which clearly lacked secondary scores.

But this senior goalkeeper is also his own biggest enemy. In Thursday's loss, Hellebuyck gave Pavel Buchnevich a web giveaway online, which brought Blues' hat-trick score forward. Hellebuyck tried to fight Brayden Schenn with his stick-back paddle, and the drama was too far away from Hellebuyck to stop Schenn from scoring St. Louis' third goal.

The Blues' home crowd loves to see it at least. When Hellebuyck was replaced by the backup Eric Comrie, fans gave the ode to “Way Way Way Connor”, ​​and the building’s organist even joined briefly with the accompaniment.

Now that the series is back in Winnipeg, the Blues plans to use Hellebuyck on the rink and apply it to the Jets’ ice ice.

“It's the playoffs, you have to win a net title,” Shane said. “You have to go to the net. They're not always pretty. But, make the hockey, the traffic net and the shooting. Hopefully, good things happen.”

For Hellebuyck, Game 5 on Wednesday was a chance to start rewriting his own history. This is another year when Hellebuyck's regular season dominance has not translated into a playoff success. Last year, he was only 1-4 in the playoffs, at 0.870 SV% and 5.23 GAA. During his career, Hellebuyck scored 20-29-0 in the playoffs, with cumulative savings percentages in any extension not reaching 0.900 since 2021-21.

Winnipeg will count on Hellebuyck to turn the trend before the playoff chance slips.