Jets remain confident in Vezina Trophy winner Connor Hellebuyck despite NHL playoff struggles
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck's NHL playoff struggles continued Sunday in St. Louis as the two-time Vezina Trophy winner surrendered five goals before being pulled in the third period for the second straight game as the Jets fell to the St. Louis Blues 5-1 to even their first round series at 2-all.
Despite questions from pundits and the jeers from the hostile St. Louis crowd, the Jets haven't lost faith in their four-time All Star.
'I'm 100% confident in Connor Hellebuyck,' Jets coach Scott Arniel said after Game 4 on Sunday. 'His resume speaks for itself.'
Jets defenseman Luke Schenn echoed his coach's sentiment.
'Lots of confidence,' Schenn said. 'He's had an unbelievable year, and you watch the replay of the goals that went in. They're deflections, they're screens, they're bouncing off us and in, and just, obviously, we've got to do a better job in front of the net.'
During the regular season, Hellebuyck has been of the NHL's elite goaltenders with a .937 save percentage and a 2.24 goals against average that was good enough to help Hellebuyck and the Jets win the Jennings Trophy for having the lowest team GAA in the league.
However, the playoffs over that timeframe have been a much different story. Hellebuyck has allowed at least four goals in 10 of 14 playoff games and has been pulled in back-to-back games for just the second time in his career including the regular season.
Winnipeg has held leads in three of the four games this series, and St. Louis has not made Hellebuyck's life easy.
'It comes down to one-on-one battles,' Schenn said. 'We have to do a better job. Everyone doing a better job of making sure Helly's seeing the puck and obviously they're getting sticks on it and they're screening him, doing a pretty good job (at that). At the end of the day, this time of year, that's where games are won and lost.'
Despite some adverse circumstances, Arniel was adamant that the entire team can take its game up a notch.
'At the end of the day, we need to be better in front of him,' Arniel said. 'There's things that we have to do to help him. He knows he has to do things that help us. And that's how it's been all year long.'
Winnipeg hosts St. Louis in Game 5 of their first round series Wednesday night.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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