The moment Quinn Hughes knew Connor Hellebuyck was going to come up clutch for Team USA in Olympics

Team USA has won the gold medal in men’s hockey at the Winter Olympics. While it was Jack Hughes who scored the game-winning goal, they were put into a position to win because of the stellar play by Connor Hellebuyck.

After the game, Quinn Hughes spoke of the moment he knew Hellebuyck was going to step up in the clutch, per hockey insider Frank Seravalli.

“I was like, ‘We’re good with this guy,’” Hughes said about the moment he saw Hellebuyck asleep on the bus on the way to play Sweden in the quarterfinals.

The Winnipeg Jets netminder came up big in the game against Sweden, stopping 28 of 29 shots inthe overtime victory. In that game, Quinn Hughes scored the overtime game-winner.

Hellebuyck was at it again agaisnt Canada. He stopped 41 of 42 shots against the Canadians, and it was Jack Hughes who got the overtime winner. Hellebuyck was also credited with an assist on the game-winning goal. By the end of the tournament, Hellebuyck had stopped 131 of 137 shots, good for a .956 save percentage and a 1.18 goals against average, both the best marks in the tournament. This led to him being named the top goaltender in the tournament.

Quinn Hughes was not the only one with praise for the American netminder after the gold medal-winning game, according to Emily Kaplan of ESPN.

“It’s going to go down as one of the best performances of all time — it has to,” Matthew Tkachuk said of his goalie. “Right up there with Jimmy Craig [in 1980], all the great United States goaltenders. In the NHL, whatever type of hockey, whatever goaltending performance you want to talk about, that’s right up there. ”

Teammate and fellow Michigander Dylan Larkin also praised Hellebuyck.

“That guy should never buy a drink in the state of Michigan ever again,” Larkin said.

The Jets goaltender is now a three-time winner of the Vezina Trophy, Hart Memorial Trophy winner, and gold medalist. Still, after winning the Vezina and Hart last year, but then struggling in the playoffs, he was criticized. Hellebuyck had a message for those critics.

“Those critics, they can keep writing,” Hellebuyck said. “But they don’t understand goaltending. They don’t understand my game. I know what I’m putting forward. I know what I’m building. These are the moments that prove it — not that I need to.”

He will now return to Winnipeg. The Jets are 22-26-8, which places them in seventh in the Central Division. If Hellebuyck plays as he did in the Olympics when he returns to the NHL, the Jets will be moving up the standings.

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