Hellebuyck impresses in first start with Devils: 'He was exceptional'

DALLAS -- Connor Hellebuyck’s tenure with the New Jersey Devils began on a high note.

The 33-year-old goaltender made 17 saves for his new team in a 5-1 victory against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.

The start came less than a week since the three-time Vezina Trophy winner was acquired by New Jersey in a trade with the Winnipeg Jets on Friday for forwards Dawson Mercer and Nick Bjugstad, goalie Nico Daws, the rights to forward Alexander Command, a second-round pick in the 2029 NHL Draft and a seventh-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft.

When asked what was going through his head during the national anthem, Hellebuyck answered with a single word: “Finally.”

It makes sense, considering the trade for Hellebuyck came on the day his suspension, which began on Sept. 16, was scheduled to come to an end. As a result of the impasse with Winnipeg, Tuesday was also his season debut.

Not that you would have known it by watching Hellebuyck play.

“If you asked me, I was ready two months ago,” he said. “I just had the mindset since the day I got here that I want to get in.”

And he made an impact right away, according to Devils captain Nico Hischier.

“He came in and was making plays everywhere,” Hischier said. “He just spread this calmness out. He’s a very calm goalie, and he made some big saves in the game in certain situations where it could maybe turn a little bit of momentum to their side. Obviously, great to have him on our team.”

Coach Sheldon Keefe agreed.

“I thought he was exceptional,” he said. “If there was an area that I thought would be tough for him today, it would be the puck-handling. He likes to touch it, and he’s really good at it, but that’s something that usually take a lot of time under pressure. ... But I thought he was great.”

Like Keefe noted, Hellebuyck likes to play the puck, and he was noticeably active early on in coming out of his net. It was a trend that continued all game long.

“I thought the guys in front of me played a perfect game for me to get acclimated,” Hellebuyck said. “A low amount of shots, blocking everything, keeping everything to the outside. They let me touch the puck a lot. ... You can practice touching it and feeling good with the hands, but it’s all about immediate decisions, checking and having a play already picked before you even get the puck. So, I touched it as many times as I can just to work through it.”

That puck play didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates, either.

“He’s just so solid back there, so sound,” defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic said. “It takes a lot of pressure off us by (him) playing the puck. It was great. It was an awesome first game for him, and I think we did our best to try to make it easy on him. ... They had some good shots from the slot, from in close, and he came up huge for us. He was awesome.”

The Devils limited the Stars to just 18 shots on goal, which tied their fewest of the season.

But every time they needed a key save, Hellebuyck was there. The only goal he allowed came on a redirection from Justin Hryckowian at 16:08 of the second period that cut New Jersey's lead to 3-1.

“You can kind of see why he was pushing to play, because he very much is physically ready," Keefe said. "It was good for us to get him in that game and play well in front of him and get him the win.”

For Hellebuyck, it's now about continuing to sharpen the little details as the Devils continue a difficult road trip, which will see them visit the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday before heading to the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday.

“I’ve been doing this for a while,” Hellebuyck said. “They played so good in front of me that I was really never worried. We didn’t have any breakdowns. I had a couple minor mistakes that you guys wouldn’t even know if I told you, but that’s part of knocking off the rust.”