Connor Hellebuyck showed in his team debut Tuesday night why the New Jersey Devils acquired him from the Winnipeg Jets.
The Devils will need classic Hellebuyck again Friday night, when they complete a three-game Western Conference road trip by visiting the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Devils were off Thursday after sustaining a 5-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche in the second game of a back-to-back set Wednesday night. The Golden Knights haven’t played since Tuesday, when they opened a two-game homestand by beating the Ottawa Senators 4-1.
Hellebuyck sat Wednesday after making his season debut Tuesday, when he stopped 17 shots in a 5-1 win over the Dallas Stars. The appearance was the first since April 13 for Hellebuyck, who didn’t report to training camp and was suspended by the Jets after requesting a trade in the offseason.
The 33-year-old was acquired by the Devils on Oct. 23 in exchange for three players — Nick Bjugstad, Nico Daws and Dawson Mercer — the rights to Alexander Command (12th overall selection in the 2026 NHL Draft) and two draft picks.
Hellebuyck won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player in 2024-25, when he also won the Vezina Trophy for the third time. The Devils hope he’ll provide an upgrade to the tandem of Daws and Jake Allen, who accounted for an .876 save percentage — which tied New Jersey for 23rd in the NHL at the time of the trade — in the club’s first 11 games.
Allen had 40 saves Wednesday, when the Devils’ four-game winning streak ended. He gave up four goals in just under 10 minutes in the third period.
The 45 shots allowed were a season high for the Devils.
“Starts with Jake Allen, who had a ton of work coming towards him,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said, “But I thought our guys battled real hard, which is why, you know, we led most of the game and gave ourselves a chance to compete for points in the third period.”
The Golden Knights withstood the absence of their franchise goalie and manufactured a third-period rally while snapping a three-game skid (0-2-1) Tuesday. The losing streak was the first of the season for Vegas, which opened 8-2-0.
Goalie Adin Hill made 25 saves in place of Carter Hart, who was injured during the morning skate. Raphael Lavoie, who was activated with Hart sidelined, scored his first NHL goal to snap a tie with 11:59 remaining before William Karlsson and Jack Eichel added empty-net insurance scores in the final two minutes.
The three third-period goals matched the number of goals the Golden Knights scored in their previous two losses, to the St. Louis Blues and Columbus Blue Jackets, combined.
The four goals overall were the most for Vegas in a game since a 6-2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Oct. 17.
“I thought Hilly really let us, after our first four shifts in the game, get to a chance to win the hockey game,” Golden Knights coach Ryan Craig said of Hill, who improved to 5-1-0 this season. “He looked solid back there. He looked like he was prepared and ready to play. Good on him.
“As for (Lavoie), he takes advantage of an opportunity. Sometimes that’s what happens, right? You don’t think about it. You just go out and play.”