Winnipeg – Connor Hellebuyck believes that the adjustments he has made to his game may have led to a drop in his performance in the Stanley Cup qualifiers.
The goalkeeper of the Winnipeg jets sometimes had trouble, especially in the first round of the Western Conference. Winnipeg then eliminated St. Louis’ blues in match 7, but Hellebuyck was withdrawn from three games from the series. He granted 16 goals on 66 shots during these three games (safeguard percentage of 0.758).
“I think what I have learned the most is that you cannot exceed your game,” said Hellebuyck on Tuesday. “You can’t give up your game. Maybe making a few adjustments here and there, but nothing huge. Nothing drastic. And you just have to go there and have fun and realize that bad rebounds occur and sometimes there is a little luck factor in hockey. Just try to control this chaos.”
Hellebuyck, who is a finalist of the Vezina trophy, awarded to the best NHL goalkeeper, and could win it for the third time, said things moved in her mind before the second round against the stars of Dallas. Winnipeg lost the series for the best of 7 in six games, being eliminated with a 2-1 prolongation defeat in Dallas on Saturday.
Hellebuyck had a GAA of 3.85 and a percentage of stops of 0.830 in the first round, but improved with a GAA of 2.20 and a percentage of stops of 0.905 in the second round.
“The first round was a roller coaster and a mental version,” said Hellebuyck. “Once we have crossed this, the weight of the world came out of my shoulders and I started coming back to play my game. Everything I was studying in the previous round started to meet my game. … You could find some adjustments, but you don’t want to find a ton of changes in your game.
The bleaching in matches 2 and 5 against Dallas helped Hellebuyck’s overall figures in these playoffs (a 6-7 file, an average of 3.08 purposes and a percentage of stops of 0.866), but they were far from his regular season performance.
“If you start thinking about the game and starting to think too much about the game, you lose the” It “factor,” said Hellebuyck. “Once I started having fun again … The level of pleasure to which I am used to, it is then that my game became good and that I started playing. This is what I’m going to live and die. “
