Last week we discussed the postseason tribulations of Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse. However, you could make the argument that Nurse’s postseason struggles are not as glaring to the hockey fan as what we have seen lately in the postseason from Winnipeg Jets’s goaltender Connor Hellebuyck of Commerce Township, Michigan, which to put things mildly has been downright awful to say the least.
How bad have things been?
Hellebuyck was pulled in his last two playoff starts. He gave up six goals on 25 shots in a 7-2 Jets loss to the St. Louis Blues on Thursday, and then five goals on 18 shots in a 5-1 Jets loss to the Blues on Sunday. The Jets headed to St. Louis with a comfortable two games to none lead. Now, all of a sudden, the best out of seven series is deadlocked at two.
The postseason struggles for Hellebuyck is nothing new. He has lost his last four playoff series. In that time, Hellebuyck has been terrible against the Montreal Canadiens, Vegas Golden Knights and Colorado Avalanche. In 18 games, Hellebuyck has given up four goals or more in 12 of those contests. Last season against Colorado, he won game one despite giving up six goals, and was completely outplayed by Alexander Georgiev the rest of the series.
Completely bizarre
The postseason struggles are mystifying when you consider what a great regular season goaltender Hellebuyck has been. He is poised to win the Vezina Trophy this season, and maybe even the Hart. Hellebuyck led the NHL this season in wins (47), goals against average (2.00), and shutouts (eight). He even led the Jets to a Presidents’ Trophy (most points in the regular season). Now due to the fact Hellebuyck has a postseason goals against average of 4.24 after four games (was 5.23 last year), it may not matter that he is making $8.5 million per season. There is a high possibility he could be benched for backup Eric Comrie for game five.
