From Sportsnet's Kristina Rutherford:
Connor Hellebuyck was hours away from giving up five goals on 15 shots when Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice considered the position his young goaltender was in as his team fights for its playoff life.
“You’re in a Canadian market and you’re playing goal,” Maurice said ahead of a 7-4 drubbing at the hands of the defending Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins Wednesday. “Your options are stellar or in trouble.”
Well, Hellebuyck has been a bit of both.
The 23-year-old from Michigan has started 12 straight games for the Jets, and in the month of March alone, we’ve seen the guy they call “Helly” post a shutout, come seconds away from another, and, most recently, get the hook.
As Maurice put it, “he’s had his ups and downs.”
Such has been the case in the Jets’ crease for much of this season. Hellebuyck has shown himself to be the best option available, with 22 wins in 48 starts, a 2.83 GAA, and four shutouts. He’s also failed to finish seven games he’s started.
Backup Michael Hutchinson is 4-11 with a 3.24 GAA, and veteran Ondrej Pavelec, who’s likely done for the season following recent knee surgery, was only called up in January after Hellebuyck had a couple nightmarish starts. Pavelec’s 4-4 record with a 3.55 GAA and .888 save percentage didn’t exactly win him the starting role back, anyway.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if the offensively gifted Jets are going to have even a shot at making the playoffs—a possibility that keeps slipping further out of grasp—they need either Hellebuyck or Hutchinson to catch fire.
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