Connor Hellebuyck lost out on winning the 4 Nations Face-Off in part because Jordan Binnington outplayed him.
Now, the Winnipeg Jets goaltender can finish pulling off the opposite against the St. Louis Blues netminder after the first two games of their first-round series.
For a Vezina Trophy winner who could win it again this season, the playoffs are where he needs to cement his legacy and reputation as one of the top goaltenders of his generation.
Hellebuyck starred for Team USA en route to the 4 Nations final, but Binnington overcame a debatable performance in Canada’s first two games to stand tall in must-win matches and help the Canadians win it all.
While the U.S. team didn’t lose out on 4 Nations gold because Hellebuyck let them down, there’s no question that Binnington was better than Hellebuyck when it counted in that tournament. The Richmond Hill, Ont., native had a .939 save percentage in the final compared to Hellebuyck’s .889 SP.
But in their first two games of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Hellebuyck outplayed Binnington, although Games 1 and 2 looked quite different.
Neither goalie was at their best in Game 1 last Saturday. Hellebuyck allowed three goals on 17 shots for a save percentage of .824, but he shut the door and made some massive saves from early in the second period onward, while Binnington couldn’t stop Winnipeg’s third-period comeback, finishing with an .840 SP.
Hellebuyck then turned aside 21 of 22 Blues shots for a .955 SP in Game 2. While Binnington had a slightly higher goals saved above expected in Monday’s match (0.89 for Binnington and 0.57 for Hellebuyck), his .909 save percentage wasn’t enough.
The Jets netminder looks intent on shaking off disappointing results in previous post-seasons despite being a perennial top-end goalie in the regular season.
Hellebuyck’s save percentage in five playoff games last season was a thoroughly subpar .870, and his GAA was a bloated 5.23. In the 2022-23 playoffs, Hellebuyck’s save percentage was .886, and his GAA was 3.44. So it’s easy to see why Hellebuyck was so determined to move the needle in a positive direction for once in the playoffs.
Since Hellebuyck’s first season in 2015-16, he’s played 568 games, 44 more than second-place Sergei Bobrovsky, and only Andrei Vasilevskiy has won more regular-season games (324 to 322). Among netminders with at least 250 games played since 2015-16, Hellebuyck’s .918 save percentage and 45 shutouts rank first, and his 2.56 GAA ranks ninth.
But in the playoffs since 2015-16, Hellebuyck’s .910 save percentage is tied for 25th, and his 2.81 GAA is 28th.
Binnington hasn’t been much better overall in that span with a .908 SP and 2.75 GAA, but he did have a .914 SP and 2.46 GAA when he backstopped the Blues to the Stanley Cup in 2018-19. With the 4 Nations title as well, Binnington has simply has more team hardware than his opponent.
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At the 4 Nations Face-Off, Hellebuyck was on the wrong end of a ferocious battle against Binnington. But so far against the Jets, Hellebuyck has proven his doubters wrong and put Binnington in the loss column in both of their first two games. And as a direct result, Winnipeg is in the driver’s seat, only two wins away from a second-round battle against the Colorado Avalanche or Dallas Stars.
You have to give Hellebuyck credit for his resilience, as lesser goalies might’ve folded again in the face of sky-high expectations and previous letdowns. But Hellebuyck has delivered as hoped this time around – and now, the Jets are on the verge of taking the next competitive steps toward winning their first Cup in franchise history.
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