Connor Hellebuyck’s immediate reaction to clutch Game 2 shutout vs. Stars

Although Connor Hellebuyck’s up-and-down play has been criticized throughout the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Hart Trophy finalist was a huge reason why the Winnipeg Jets tied up their second round series with the Dallas Stars on Friday night.

Hellebuyck made 21 saves on 21 shots, stymying Dallas’ high-flying offense in a critical 4-0 Game 2 victory at Canada Life Centre. With that, the series to determine the champion of the Central Division heads back to Texas tied at one.

“I thought the guys in front of me did a phenomenal job, just letting me see pucks and keeping the tips away, playing the rebounds,” Hellebuyck said afterwards, per NHL.com’s Darrin Bauming. “It’s never just the goalie doing it — it’s everyone out there.”

The 31-year-old added: “We’re playing our game, and we know what it looks like and we know what it feels like. That being said, we’ve got to wipe it and go play a hard road game. It’s never easy on the road, especially at playoff time.”

The Jets got off to a great start, putting two goals past Stars netminder Jake Oettinger before the contest was 10 minutes old. That’s all the offense Winnipeg would need, although captain Adam Lowry added some insurance in the second frame before Nikolaj Ehlers scored his second of the game into an empty net late in the third.

“Obviously huge to get that goal early and especially on the power play as well,” Ehlers said. “I don’t want to say too much. If you look at video from the previous games, you try to find things you can do better, things that are open and I think we were able to find those tonight.”

Connor Hellebuyck earns high praise from both teams

The Jets haven’t been past the second round of the postseason since marching to the Western Conference Final — and losing to the Vegas Golden Knights — back in 2017-18. But if Hellebuyck keeps playing the way he did in Game 2, the President’s Trophy winners will have a great shot to return.

“Hellebuyck was fantastic,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said, per Bauming. “Sometimes we take him for granted because he makes the hard look easy, so easy, but he had some acrobatic ones tonight.”

“Hellebuyck made some huge saves in the second,” admitted Stars forward Matt Duchene, who has four assists in the playoffs. “We get one there or two there, it’s a different game. He was great. I also think it wasn’t our best game. We did enough to score some goals and he made some big saves. We know that’s not our A-game, it’s not our best. Game 1 was solid and we want to go back home and get ready for that.”

It was Hellebuyck’s first shutout of the 2025 playoffs, and the fourth of his career in the postseason. That ties Craig Anderson for the seventh most by a U.S.-born goaltender, per Bauming.

Now a best-of-5 series, Game 3 is set for Sunday afternoon at American Airlines Center in Dallas. Puck is set to drop just past 4:30 p.m. ET.