Team USA would go on to win their tournament opener 6-1 over Finland, but it began with a bit of nervousness from the Winnipeg Jets' netminder Connor Hellebuyck.

Team USA would go on to win their tournament opener 6-1 over Finland, but it began with a bit of nervousness from the Winnipeg Jets' netminder Connor Hellebuyck. 

The USA were the much better team in the first period, firing 13 shots as Juuse Saros, including a pair of crossbars and posts, one off of the stick of Auston Matthews. Despite their dominance, the teams entered the first intermission tied at 1-1. 

Finland opened the scoring courtesy of Buffalo Sabres defenseman Henri Jokiharju. His shot from a weaker angle snuck under the arm of Hellebuyck, and immediately, the comments about Hellebuyck's past performances in the playoffs were brought to light.

P.K. Subban, a former Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators and New Jersey Devils defenseman and current ESPN analyst, posted a video to X about Hellebuyck being "leaky"  and if goaltending is already an issue for USA. 

The USA and Hellebuyck quickly quieted their doubters, scoring six unanswered goals and holding the Finns to just one goal. 

The 31-year-old goaltender wasn't peppered with shots but stopped 20 of the 21 shots he faced and did an excellent job of controlling rebounds and avoiding long cycle shifts in the defensive end. 

Hellebuyck showed a lot of resilience to bounce back and not let the early goal affect his performance. This should boost Hellebuyck's already high confidence and should benefit the Jets. He'll likely be given the crease against Team Canada on Saturday with another chance to prove that he can perform in high-leverage situations. 

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