This is a prime example of a situation where the grey area in the rule book needs to be eliminated.

Trying to determine if it’s a distinct kicking motion or not is too much to ask, whether in real time or after a lengthy review.

It’s also an example of when it would be extremely beneficial for the NHL to make the most senior official available to members of the media to provide more than a bit of clarity.

Instead of relying on an explanation from the NHL situation room, the officials in the building could provide additional context, both in terms of what they saw on the ice and what the pictures on the iPad told them before the call on the ice ended up standing.

But, we digress.

The Winnipeg Jets didn’t drop Game 3 of the Central Division final because of a controversial call that was made.

Julio Cortez / The Associated Press Winnipeg Jets’ Connor Hellebuyck and Adam Lowry react as the Dallas Stars players celebrate after scoring a power play goal against the Jets in the first period of Game 3 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Dallas, Sunday.

There’s no doubt that contributed to the defeat, but it wasn’t the primary reason the Jets came up short in a 5-2 loss to the Dallas Stars on Sunday at American Airlines Center.

The Jets dropped this outing because they gave up three goals in the third period of a tie game to a hungry team that has yet to lose consecutive games in these Stanley Cup playoffs.

As has been the case on four occasions out of four on the road in the postseason, the Jets showed some uncharacteristic qualities when pressed by the opposition in a tight game and things went off the rails — even if only momentarily.

Unravelling isn’t something the Jets have shown often.

The Jets had the most road wins in the NHL this season, but have gone 0-4 against the Stars and St. Louis Blues.

Now, those are two teams that are excellent on home ice.

But the fact remains, the Jets can’t win this series and advance to the Western Conference final if they don’t record at least one win away from Canada Life Centre.

With the Jets still reeling after a lengthy video review to determine whether or not Alex Petrovic’s goal was going to count, the Stars built on the boost by scoring 49 seconds later to extend the lead to 4-2 as none other than Mikko Rantanen scored his ninth goal of the postseason.

Let’s get this out of the way immediately: Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck didn’t cost his team the game.

The breakdowns in front of him — made by the stingiest team in the NHL in each of the past two regular seasons — obviously contributed to the outcome.

What is also true is that Hellebuyck has yet to win a game on the road in four starts this spring and he gave up at least five goals for a fourth consecutive time (in one of those games, he actually surrendered six).

That’s too many, even if there weren’t any real softies sprinkled in here.

Julio Cortez / The Associated Press Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck has yet to win a game on the road in four starts this spring.

However, it’s the fourth time in 10 games Hellebuyck has allowed a goal on the first shot on goal he’s faced.

During the post-game assessment, Jets head coach Scott Arniel was asked for his evaluation of Hellebuyck’s performance and he wasn’t about to throw his goalie under the bus.

“He had to make some big stops. Him and (Jake) Oettinger, they were going kind of toe to toe. There’s a lot of good looks both ways,” said Arniel. “But we’re going to be judged, our whole team, we’re going to be all judged, not just Connor, by what happens on the road. 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 received praise for his ability to buckle down in Game 7 against the St. Louis Blues, going more than 54 minutes without allowing a goal before his team won in double overtime in dramatic fashion.

That wouldn’t have happened without Hellebuyck slamming the door shut.

In Game 1 of this series, Hellebuyck gave up three goals but he did his job, making the saves he was supposed to.

It took an extraordinary redirection and a Rantane pass banking in off his own defenceman for Hellebuyck to take a hard-luck loss in the 3-2 defeat.

Then in Game 2, Hellebuyck pitched a 21-save shutout, his first since Game 2 of the 2021 series with the Edmonton Oilers.

It looked — and sounded — like Hellebucyk was back, based on both the saves he made and the words he spoke in his post-game session with reporters.

He was structurally sound, mixing in an athletic push across the crease to stop a one-timer from Evgenii Dadonov.

Then in Game 3, Hellebuyck wasn’t quite as sharp.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

The Warm-Up

Winnipeg Jets Game Days

On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop.

Sign up for The Warm-Up

There were multiple stops on Grade A opportunities, but Hellebuyck didn’t look quite as settled in his crease and his angles weren’t as precise as usual.

The disputed goal is a prime example of that.

While the degree of difficulty of trying to follow the bouncing puck that goes in after it contacts the skate of Stars defenceman Alex Petrovic is remarkably high, the way Hellebuyck swings his stick to try and bat it out of trouble isn’t something we’ve seen from him before.

It’s an unfortunate bounce for Hellebuyck, there’s no doubt about that, as it appears to hit both the blade and the paddle of the goal stick before crossing the line for what proved to be the game-winner.

But if he’s hugging the post on the play, there isn’t really a place for the puck to go in after it’s kicked off the right skate of Petrovic.

On the Stars’ fourth goal, Rantanen has far too much time as he cuts to the middle but Hellebuyck appears to go down a touch early.

He’s a big goalie who made himself smaller than usual in that moment.

Even on the insurance marker, Hellebuyck makes two excellent saves to start the sequence, including one off the one-timer, but his momentum takes him too far out of the crease to get back in time to prevent Wyatt Johnston from banging home his own rebound.

It’s been said already during the course of the past three weeks, but it’s worth repeating: Hellebuyck doesn’t need to do it all by himself.

He just needs to be himself, which means making the difficult saves look routine and playing well enough to give his team a chance to win.

Allowing 21 goals in four road playoff games isn’t a recipe for success, no matter how you slice it.

Expecting the Jets to score more than five goals a night on the road simply isn’t realistic.

That means the team needs to buckle down and limit the breakdowns in front of Hellebuyck and for the Hart Trophy candidate to raise his road game a bit.

He’s shown the ability to be the best goalie on the planet when he’s on his game and this is the time of year when reputations and legacies are cemented.

It’s not uncommon for a team to rally from a 2-1 series deficit, even against an excellent opponent.

Following the blueprint for 60 minutes — and maybe more — on the road on Tuesday would give the Jets their best chance to avoid being pushed to the brink of elimination.

“We need to get one on the road here,” said Jets left-winger Kyle Connor, who recorded his first point of the series with a first-period goal. “That next one is the best chance we’ve got.”

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X and Bluesky: @WiebesWorld

Ken Wiebe Reporter

Ken Wiebe is a sports reporter for the Free Press, with an emphasis on the Winnipeg Jets. He has covered hockey and provided analysis in this market since 2000 for the Winnipeg Sun, The Athletic, Sportsnet.ca and TSN. Ken was a summer intern at the Free Press in 1999 and returned to the Free Press in a full-time capacity in September of 2023. Read more about Ken.

Every piece of reporting Ken produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.