The Winnipeg Jets can talk, talk, and talk all they want about how much they believe in Connor Hellebuyck. But come on, be real. If you’re the Jets, you have got to be in panic mode over what the Blues have done to who is supposed to be the best goaltender in the NHL, and one who once again finds himself a finalist for the Vezina.
And don’t get me wrong; Hellebuyck deserves to win the Vezina after he posted eight shutouts, a 2.00 GAA, a 0.726 quality starts percentage, 47 wins, and a 0.925 save percentage. Those are Hall of Fame numbers, let alone just good hockey, so more power and kudos to Hellebuyck for proving that yes, goaltenders can still dominate the game when they choose to.
Regular season awards and honors are great, but when you have a giant asterisk next to your name, there’s a problem. Unfortunately for Hellebuyck, that’s the case, given the way the Blues consistently give him a hard time, even in games when they hadn’t helped themselves.
Blues performance vs. Hellebuyck should have the Jets in panic mode
Even if the Jets win tonight, there shouldn’t be a single fan in Winnipeg confident enough that their team will make it past the second round. Not with the historically bad numbers Hellebuyck has put up against the Blues, which resulted in head coach Scott Arniel pulling his star goaltender not once, not twice, but three times.
Yeah, three times in a single series against a Blues team that was supposed to watch the playoffs from home. Or, at best, a Blues team that was supposed to steal a game while the Presidents’ Trophy winners took care of them and cruised into the second round with momentum.
Hey, if your goaltender can’t play good hockey in the postseason, there’s a problem. And Arniel can “isn’t about Connor” us all he wants. It’s not like the Blues are putting up 30-40 shots per game, something I said in my reaction piece on Friday night. No, Connor Hellebuyck has garnered a reputation for playing bad hockey when the stakes reach their pinnacles.
How bad have the Blues made Connor Hellebuyck look?
On an A-F scale, Hellebuyck gets an ‘F-minus.’ He’s 3-3 in six playoff starts so far, allowing 23 goals, a 4.42 GAA, and an 0.815 save percentage. Go back to last season, and Hellebuyck finished the playoffs with an 0.864 save percentage and a 5.23 GAA.
The year before that? An 0.886 save percentage, which really isn’t bad when you compare it to what he’s done over the last two seasons, and a 3.44 GAA. He hasn’t looked remotely like himself in the net since the 2021 playoffs.
And for a team like the Blues, who didn’t figure out how to score consistently until late in the season, to make him look that bad? Listen, the Blues have been great, but I’m not ready to christen them as elite scorers just yet.
That said, I’ll credit them for putting the Jets into an ultimate Catch-22. Yeah, they have a great goaltender. But after what the Blues have done through most of this six-game stretch, maybe they need to find one who knows a thing or two about playing well in the crease between late April and mid June.