DALLAS 鈥� Just when it looked like Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck was back in top form again on the road, an unusual own-goal proved to be his undoing.
The Winnipeg Jets never recovered in a 5-2 loss to Dallas on Sunday that gave the Stars a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven, second-round series.
A back-and-forth game flipped when Alexander Petrovic scored early in the third period. The puck went off his skate and then bounced off Hellebuyck's stick before crossing the line.
Officials needed a long review to determine if there was a kicking motion and if the puck made contact with Petrovic's stick. The NHL Situation Room ruled that Hellebuyck propelled the puck into his own net.
"The rule states that if the puck gets kicked, if it hits a body or a stick of anybody else other than the goaltender, it counts as a goal," Jets coach Scott Arniel said. "It hit our goaltender's stick and went in the net. That is no goal.
"So they said that (Hellebuyck) propelled the puck in, and I haven't seen the word propelled in the rulebook."
Add the play to the long list of road woes for a Winnipeg team that has yet to win away from Canada Life Center this post-season.
Hellebuyck was left laying on his back after the goal, the offending stick resting over him and the vocal American Airlines Center crowd loving it all.
Mikko Rantanen scored a minute later and suddenly the St. Louis vibes that haunted Hellebuyck in the first round 鈥� he was pulled in all three road losses against the Blues 鈥� felt like they moved south with him to the Lone Star State.
Wyatt Johnson tacked on an insurance goal for the Stars, who are brimming with confidence ahead of Tuesday's Game 4.
"I thought we had a lot more guys look a lot more dangerous tonight up and down the lineup than we did the other night and that's a credit to our group," said Dallas coach Pete DeBoer.
Dallas won the series opener 3-2 at Canada Life Centre but the Jets responded with a 4-0 shutout win in Game 2 with Hellebuyck making 21 saves.
A nominee for both the Vezina and Hart trophies, the veteran netminder remains snake-bitten on the road in the playoffs. He has a .772 save percentage over four road losses along with a bloated 6.65 goals-against average.
"We're going to be all judged 鈥� not just Connor 鈥� by what happens on the road," Arniel said. "We've got to win. They came into our building and took home ice away from us, we've got to win here.
"And so everything that we have is going to be pushed into Game 4 here to get this thing evened up going back into our building."
Hellebuyck gave up a goal on the Stars' first shot as Roope Hintz redirected a point shot for a power-play marker.
Kyle Connor answered by beating an outstretched Jake Oettinger on a wraparound midway through the first period. Mikael Granlund later made a nice pass from his knees while behind the net to Thomas Harley, who beat Hellebuyck to make it 2-1.
The Stars were winning puck battles in the opening stanza and forcing the Jets out wide. Winnipeg responded with a stronger second period highlighted by a Nino Niederreiter goal after a cross-ice pass from Josh Morrissey.
Hellebuyck, meanwhile, had settled in and was starting to look like the player who was a rock in the regular season. When Cody Ceci fired a wrist shot from inside the faceoff circle, the netminder whipped out his glove hand to make a highlight-reel stop.
A few more great saves followed ahead of the second intermission before things unravelled in the third. Petrovic said Rantanen fed him a nice pass that led to the game-winning goal.
"I made a pass back to him, shot on net, rebound, kind of went off my skate," he said. "It was a pretty lucky goal."
The home fans got in on the action, pumping their goalie's tires while teasing Hellebuyck with "Otter's Better!" chants.
"Obviously they got some momentum from the goal, but it's still a one-goal game at that point," said Jets forward Morgan Barron. "Regardless of the circumstances, I think we have to do a better job kind of pushing back."
NHL teams with a 2-1 lead in a best-of-seven series have advanced 68.8 per cent of the time.
"At the end of the day, hopefully some of the stuff we did, the offence we created, the chances that we had, help us feel good about what we can do in Game 4," Arniel said.
"And that鈥檚 what we鈥檙e going to have to do."
The series will return to Winnipeg for Game 5 on Thursday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 11, 2025.
Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press
