Last night at Bell MTS Place an exciting 5-4 shootout win secured the 30th home win for the Jets and gave goalie Connor Hellebuyck his 40th victory of the season. He came up big in overtime and after giving up the opening goal in the shootout he shut the door on Pastarnak, Marchand (seen below) and Heinen, ending the shootout in the fourth round.
Photo Credit: Colby Spence
This meant that Connor Hellebuyck had the first 40-win season in franchise history.
While Pekka Rinne of Nashville and Andrei Vasilevskiy of Tampa Bay are seen as the front runners for the Vezina Trophy this season Connor Hellebuyck’s name is coming up in conversation. Currently, he is tied for eighth in the league with a 2.38 GAA, ninth in save % with a .923, third in shutouts with six and third in wins with 40. His GSAA (goals saved above average – explained here) is 20, which ranks him fourth in the NHL behind Rinne (28), Fleury (24) and Gibson (23).
Regardless of the individual hardware he could add to his trophy case it has been an exceptional season for the Jets 5th round selection in 2012 who has taken the mantle of top goalie in the organization and run away with it.
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