Hellebuyck stands tall for Team USA

MILAN — The occasion was not too big for Connor Hellebuyck.

The Winnipeg Jets netminder, who also happens to be the reigning Hart and Vezina Trophy winner, should have silenced critics Wednesday who claim he shrinks when the stakes get higher.

Hellebuyck was calm, cool and collected, stopping 28 of 29 shots as the United States survived a scare from Sweden, winning 2-1 in overtime to avoid Olympic elimination and advance to the medal round.

“It’s one of those moments where you’ll look back at years down the road and just be so proud to be a part of it,” Hellebuyck said.

Dylan Larkin gave the Americans a 1-0 lead midway through the second period and, for a while, it looked like that might be enough. But with Swedish goaltender Jacob Markstrom pulled for an extra attacker, Mika Zibanejad’s one-timer with 91 seconds left in regulation snuck past a surprised Hellebuyck.

“I was trying to figure out how it went in because I thought I made a really good push and feel like I should have had the save,” said Hellebuyck.

“My first thought is it went through the outside of the net. So, after realizing that it didn’t I was able to throw it away because, you know, there’s more hockey to be played.”

Not a whole lot of hockey, it turned out. Quinn Hughes beat Markstrom just 3:27 into three-on-three overtime.

“I thought we were the better team for the majority of that game. That being said, their goalie played great and they played their game, too,” Hellebuyck said of not losing focus despite the late goal.

“You’re playing a good game, you feel like you deserve to win. It’s hockey. You don’t shut out every single night. If you’re playing the right way and feel like you should win, you usually get the result.”

Hughes, who was traded by the Vancouver Canucks to the Minnesota Wild in a mid-season blockbuster, showed why he is arguably one of the best defencemen on the planet.

“A beautiful step in, and just a perfect shot, off the low post and in, low glove,” Hellebuyck said of the winner.

He admits he’s not a fan of settling high-stakes games with three-on-three overtime — as happened in three of Wednesday’s four quarterfinals — but acknowledges it’s a necessary evil.

“In a short tournament like this, you kind of have to have it. Especially with so many teams playing, it could drag out a game and really ruin the schedule and ruin rest and give someone an unfair advantage for the future rounds,” said Hellebuyck.

“It stinks, but we’re all in the same boat.”

Hellebuyck has now stopped 68 of 71 shots in three tournament games, posting a .958 save percentage and a 1.00 goals-against average. He credited the team in front of him.

“They’re just incredible. Everyone plays their role so strong and they let me see pucks and they clear rebounds. And they just make my life so much easier,” he said.

Jets forward Kyle Connor, who went without a point or a shot in the first two U.S. games, was a healthy scratch for a second straight outing.

Team USA will face a surprising Slovakia squad on Friday (2:10 p.m. CT).

“They’re playing out of their minds right now. They’re playing absolutely incredible. They’ve had a really tough bracket, the toughest bracket, and they came out of it on top,” said forward Matthew Tkachuk.

“They’ve got some guys playing at an all-world level, guys that are in the NHL and guys that are not. So it’s gonna be a huge, huge test for us. At this point of the tournament, anything can happen. Their goalie is playing incredible, our goalie is playing incredible, and it’s gonna make for a hell of a semifinal.”

The dream of an American-Canadian showdown is still alive. Canada meets Finland in the other semifinal (Friday, 9:40 a.m. CT), after the Finns rallied from a 2-0 deficit to beat Switzerland 3-2 in overtime. Jets forward Nino Niederreiter scored for the Swiss, but it wasn’t enough to extend his Olympics.

The semifinal losers will play for bronze on Saturday (1:40 p.m. CT), the winners for gold on Sunday (7:10 a.m. CT) to conclude the Games.

“Just pumped we get to keep this thing going,” said Jack Hughes, who along with his brother assisted on Larkin’s goal.

“You don’t want to end it in the quarters. That’s a great team over there, and I don’t think anyone saw us playing them in the quarters at the start of the tournament. Whoever it was, a great team was going to be eliminated, and we wanted to keep this thing going. It’s the best hockey, the Olympics. It’s fun to keep it rolling.”

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