Kevin Woodley digs into the analytics for the answer

If this was still the golden age of newspapers, entire forests would have been wiped out to produce enough paper for the stories analyzing Conor Hellebuyck’s playoff performance, and much of it this week centers around an inability to win on the road.

The Winnipeg Jets closed the gap in their best-of-seven series against the Dallas Stars to 3-2 after Hellebuyck’s 22-save shutout in Game 4 on Thursday. But that was at home, in front of a boisterous Winnipeg White Out crowd that chanted “MVP” for Hellebuyck from lineup introductions to the final buzzer. Game 5 on Saturday is on the road in Dallas, and the Jets have yet to win a single road game these playoffs, going 0-3 against the St. Louis Blues and getting pulled in all three games in the opening round and 0-2 so far against the Stars.

The home-road splits are not kind to Hellebuyck. The soon-to-be three-time Vezina Trophy winner is 0-5 on the road this postseason with a .793 save percentage, leading to a lot of stories about Game 6 in Dallas being a defining moment for a goalie who has already built a Hall of Fame resume and was named a Hart Trophy finalist this season.

With the narratives piling up amid Hellbuyck admittedly struggling to match his regular season success in the playoffs, InGoal Magazine wondered how much of the home-versus-road conversation was about the goalie, and how much of it was about the team?

So, we turned to our friends at Clear Sight Analytics to get better answers.

Comments

Let's talk goaltending!

We welcome your contribution to the comments on this and all articles at InGoal. We ask that you keep it positive and appropriate for all - this is a community of goaltenders and we're here for each other! See our comment policy for more information.