Connor Hellebuyck's been criticized in the past for his play in the Stanley Cup playoffs and other big moments. In a very tight matchup against Sweden at the Olympics, he flipped the script.
Short tournaments such as these Olympics require steady goaltending to make deep runs.
On Wednesday against gold medal contenders Sweden, Connor Hellebuyck was as steady as they come in Team USA's 2-1 overtime victory to send them to the semifinal. He made 28 stops on 29 shots, posting a .966 SP.
"Unbelievable," USA left winger Matt Boldy said of Hellebuyck's performance. "When you have a guy like that back there, it kind of stems confidence throughout the whole group."
Going into this tournament, and even last year's 4 Nations Face-Off, the narrative around Hellebuyck was that he struggles in big games, specifically in the playoffs and elimination contests.
In his last three playoff runs, the Winnipeg Jets netminder has featured in 23 games. In that span, he's recorded a .872 save percentage and a 3.60 goals-against average.
In last season's playoffs, Hellebuyck had a 3.08 GAA and a .866 SP as the Presidents' Trophy-winning Jets needed seven games to eliminate the Blues and lost in the second round. Among goalies who played more than four games, Hellebuyck had the worst save percentage.
He flipped the script against Sweden and continued his confidence-building play at the Olympics.
"We didn't come here for a Olympic medal – we came here for the big one," the goalie said to reporters after the game.
Connor Hellebuyck saved 28 of 29 shots against Sweden in the quarterfinal. (Geoff Burke-Imagn Images)Statistically, Hellebuyck has been the best goaltender in the tournament. He leads the men's Olympic competition with a 0.98 GAA and a .958 SP.
With Team USA outshooting Sweden 40-29, Hellebuyck was in a goalie battle with Jacob Markstrom. But Dylan Larkin finally opened the scoring just over halfway through the second period.
In the third period, however, Sweden outshot the U.S. 10-3 as they went all-in to keep their gold medal hopes alive. And for a moment, it looked like they would.
Mika Zibanejad beat Hellebuyck with less than two minutes left in regulation, and the Swedes appeared to flip the momentum. But Hellebuyck did enough to save the Americans.
In overtime, Sweden didn't get another chance to test Hellebuyck's clutch factor. They had no shots on net, and the U.S. had six. And when Quinn Hughes scored the overtime-winner 3:27 into the extra frame, the States eliminated a gold medal contender and survived the scare.
Hellebuyck was needed to come through for his group in a tight matchup. And thanks in part to him, they can keep going for the "big one" in Milan.
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