Hellebuyck focuses on positives, out to reverse playoff fortunes for Jets 

WINNIPEG -- Connor Hellebuyck hesitated briefly before answering.

The Winnipeg Jets goalie was asked about being considered the third-best goalie in the League in the NHL Players’ Association Poll and if his lack of Stanley Cup Playoff success is a reason for that.

“You know, we’ve done some great things this year. We don’t need to go look at all the bad things that other people’s opinions have on us,” he said Thursday. “I would say let’s ask questions about how our details are and how’s this team feeling, what’s right and what’s going well in this room.

“A lot of those questions are answered through our game every single day. Our details are phenomenal. We played every single game as hard as we can. Our compete level is very, very high every single night. I really believe in this group and look forward to the next couple months.”

It’s probably frustrating for Hellebuyck to discuss his playoff struggles but it’s also a topic that’s hard to avoid. The 31-year-old has been an absolute star in the regular season, winning the Vezina Trophy as the best goalie in the NHL in 2019-20 and last season – and likely to win it against this year – but the playoffs have been another story.

He’s 18-27 with a 2.85 goals-against average, .911 save percentage and three shutouts in 45 starts.

In his first postseason, he went 9-8 and took the Jets to the 2018 Western Conference Final, but since then, he’s 9-19, helping the Jets win just one round (in 2019-20). In the past two postseasons, he’s 2-8, each time a regular season with promise ending in the first round.

But he gets another chance to turn around his postseason fates on Saturday, when the Jets play the St. Louis Blues in Game 1 of the Western Conference First Round at Canada Life Centre on Saturday (6 p.m., ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, TNT, ALT, SN360, SN, TVAS).

The Jets (56-22-4) won the Presidents’ Trophy, awarded annually to the team that finishes with the most points in the regular season. The Blues (44-30-8) had a franchise-best 12-game winning streak as part of a strong second half and clinched the second wild card from the West in their final regular-season game, a 6-1 win against the Utah Hockey Club, on Tuesday.

Hellebuyck looks destined to win his second consecutive Vezina Trophy after going 47-12-3 with a 2.00 goals-against average, .925 save percentage and NHL-leading eight shutouts in 63 regular-season games (62 starts).

But can he carry that into the playoffs? Those who know him say he will.

“Oh, he’s ready for that. He’s not happy with the way things have gone the last four years,” former Jets coach Rick Bowness said. “He knows he’s a lot better than that and the whole team has taken that attitude that, ‘OK, we’re going to prove that we’re better than last year in the playoffs,’ and he leads the charge.”

Hellebuyck silenced some critics with his play for the United States in the 4 Nations Face-Off. He led the U.S. to the championship game, where it lost to Canada in overtime.

Jordan Binnington, his counterpart for Canada in the best-on-best tournament, will be there again in the first round for the Blues.

“Obviously he’s had a tremendous year, he’s a great goaltender,” Binnington said of Hellebuyck. “But it’s kind of not my job to think about that, right? It’s just focusing on myself and doing what I can to be my best, to give our team a chance to win.”

Binnington reached the NHL pinnacle in 2019 when he helped the Blues win their first Stanley Cup. Binnington went 16-10 with a 2.46 GAA, .914 save percentage and one shutout in 26 playoff games that year. Since then, he’s 4-10 in the postseason and has plenty to prove as well.

But like Hellebuyck, he’s not focused on the negatives.

“Mentally, (Binnington) has incredibly positive thoughts,” Blues coach Jim Montgomery said. “His self-talk is incredibly positive, and he sees himself doing great things in big moments. It’s a mindset and, thank God he’s our goaltender.”

This season, Binnington was 28-22-5 with a 2.69 GAA, a .900 save percentage and three shutouts in 56 games (54 starts).

“He’s won a Stanley Cup. The 4 Nations, his spectacular play there. At the end of the day, they’ve been on a run, and he’s been a big part of it,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “He’s experienced at this time of the year.

“On the other side with ‘Helly,’ that 4 Nations was a great opportunity for him to go head-to-head, not only against Binnington but against the other goalies from the other nations and be in pressure situations much like playoff games. Those are all kinds of learning things for him. For Helly, he’s proven how great of a goaltender he is.”

Hellebuyck went 2-1-0 with a 1.59 GAA and .932 save percentage in three starts at 4 Nations. Those performances convinced ESPN NHL analyst and Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Messier that he’s is ready for these playoffs.

“Getting through the 4 Nations and how well he played there has got to be a huge boost for him,” he said. “You know, we always say that coaches don't carry around five-gallon buckets of confidence and hand it out at will. You know, confidence is earned by success and failures. For me, the kind of year that he's stitched together for himself this year is really, really, really impressive.

“(At) 4 Nations, at the highest level he didn't back up an inch, never flinched. If I'm Winnipeg, I'm really, really excited about that.”

Hellebuyck believes in his game. So do the Jets. So do those who have seen what Hellebuyck has done this season, with Winnipeg or the U.S.

“When we were starting the 4 Nations Face-Off, that was a big storyline because of the pressure,” ESPN play-by-play broadcaster Sean McDonough said. “To me, exactly what (Messier) said, hopefully (Hellebuyck) has shed this question about whether he can handle that kind of pressure in the big moments because I haven't played in Stanley Cup Playoff games, but I've called a bunch of them now.

“The 4 Nations Face-Off was as pressure-packed and as intense as any playoff game. I would put it right there with Game 7 that we did last year between Edmonton and Florida. So, for him to play at the level he did in the 4 Nations under that kind of pressure and intense scrutiny, I think bodes very well for the way he's going to play in the playoffs. He's the best goalie in the world.”

NHL.com independent correspondent Lou Korac contributed to this report.