Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was pulled from a second consecutive postseason game for the first time in his career Sunday, after giving up five goals to the St. Louis Blues in a 5-1 rout.

St. Louis' victory tied this Western Conference first-round series at 2-2, with Game 5 on Wednesday in Winnipeg.

Hellebuyck was also yanked from Thursday's 7-2 loss after allowing six goals on 25 shots. Posting 11 goals against in two crucial playoff road games is almost the opposite of what Hellebuyck has been able to do at home, letting in just four goals total while helping Winnipeg to a 2-0 series lead over St. Louis.

Now, the Presidents' Trophy winners, who topped the league's regular-season standings with a 116-point campaign -- are in a best-of-three fight against the plucky, eighth-seeded Blues. And Hellebuyck's implosion over their past two games is a significant reason Winnipeg is feeling the heat.

Jets coach Scott Arniel tried not to fan the flames in his postgame media availability Sunday as he put his full weight behind Hellebuyck moving forward.

"I'm 100 percent confident in Connor Hellebuyck," Arniel said. "His résumé speaks for itself. At the end of the day, we need to be better in front of him. We need to let him see some pucks. There are things we have to do to help him. And there's things he has to do to help us."

Hellebuyck -- like the Jets themselves -- had a sensational regular season. He is the odds-on favorite to win a third Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goaltender and is in the running as a Hart Trophy finalist for league MVP honors. He recorded a league-high 47 wins, to go with a .925 save percentage and 2.00 goals-against average.

One glaring issue for Hellebuyck in the postseason is St. Louis screening pucks while the Jets' defense isn't boxing out enough in front of the net to let him see incoming shots. Winnipeg hasn't given Hellebuyck much offensive support either -- the Jets are averaging the fourth-fewest goals among playoff teams (2.50 per game) through a notable lack of secondary scoring.

But the veteran goaltender has been in his own worst enemy. In Thursday's loss, it was Hellebuyck's giveaway behind the net to Pavel Buchnevich that delivered the Blues' forward his hat trick score. In Sunday's game, Hellebuyck's attempt to fight off Brayden Schenn with the paddle of his stick backfired and left Hellebuyck too far removed from the play to stop Schenn from scoring St. Louis' third goal.

The Blues' home crowd loved to see it. When Hellebuyck was replaced by backup Eric Comrie, fans rained down chants of "We want Connor!" and the building's organist even briefly joined in with accompaniment.

Now that the series is shifting back to Winnipeg, the Blues plan to take what worked on Hellebuyck in their rink and apply it to the Jets' home ice.

"It's playoffs, you have to win the net-front battle," Schenn said. "You have to go to the net. They're not always pretty. But get pucks to people, traffic to the net and shoot. Hopefully, good things happen."

For Hellebuyck, Game 5 is a chance to start rewriting his own history. This is another year where Hellebuyck's regular season dominance hasn't translated to postseason success. Last season, he was 1-4 in the playoffs with an .870 SV% and 5.23 GAA. In his career, Hellebuyck is 20-29-0 in the postseason, and he hasn't recorded a cumulative save percentage over .900 in any stretch since 2020-21.

Winnipeg will be counting on Hellebuyck to turn the tide before this postseason opportunity slips away.