The Winnipeg Jets’ 4-0 win on Friday night tied their second-round playoff series with the Dallas Stars at one game each. That is a huge development for the Jets, because losing two games at home against a team as good as Dallas might have been an early series knockout punch.
But the bigger development for the Jets beyond the win itself might be the way they won: with a shutout from starting goalie Connor Hellebuyck.
It is not only Hellebuyck’s first playoff shutout since the 2021 postseason, it’s also a huge statement from their franchise goalie that he might be getting himself back on track.
As good as Hellebuyck has been for the Jets throughout his career, he has become one of their biggest question marks in the playoffs due to his recent postseason meltdowns. Those struggles continued through the first round this year, resulting in him getting pulled on three different occasions in their first-round series win against the St. Louis Blues.
They were still able to sneak through as a team and advance, but there was no way that sort of recipe was going to be sustainable. Especially against better teams deeper into the playoffs. They needed him to be better. He needed to be better. Not only to change the narrative around his own career, but to give the Jets a chance.
He started to show some signs of breaking out of his funk in Game 7 against the Blues and even in defeat against Dallas in Game 1, but Friday’s game was where everything seemed to start coming back around for him.
On one hand, Hellebuyck’s playoff struggles in recent years have probably been overstated. He has a significantly larger body of regular-season work that perfectly illustrates what sort of goalie he is.
He is a two-time Vezina Trophy winner (probably soon-to-be three-time winner) and has been an MVP finalist. He is one of the single most impactful players in hockey when it comes to determining the success or failure of his team. He has spent years masking a lot of flaws on the Jets’ roster and taking that team further than it probably should have been going.
There is a lot to be said for that, and it is a great representation of him as a goalie.
But on the other hand, great players are mostly measured by what they do when the lights are brightest. To this point, Hellebuyck has not always delivered.
But narratives can change quickly, and they can change rapidly in the playoffs. It only takes one good run to erase any doubt that previously existed. After years of bailing out his team, the Jets bailed out their goalie in the first round and bought him some time to get back on track. Perhaps Friday was a sign that he is starting to get there. If he does, and if he can deliver more games like Friday’s Game 2 performance, the Jets are going to be an extremely difficult team to beat.
