- Connor Hellebuyck made 16 saves in his Devils debut, a 5-1 win over the Stars
- Nico Hischier scored twice while Jack and Luke Hughes each had a goal and an assist
- Read below for how the debut came together after the trade
Connor Hellebuyck’s Devils debut went about as smoothly as New Jersey could have asked for.
The goalie stopped 16 of 17 shots Tuesday night as the Devils beat the Stars 5-1 in Dallas. It was his first game of the season, and he got there after just one practice with his new team.
Check out the moment Hellebuyck picked up the win:
Dallas came in riding a five-game winning streak. Justin Hryckowian’s goal at 16:08 of the second period was the only puck to beat Hellebuyck, a redirect of a Tyler Myers point shot that cut the lead to 3-1. Luke Hughes answered 28 seconds later to make it 4-1.
Nico Hischier did the early damage. He scored at 2:41 of the first on a 2-on-1 with Timo Meier, then beat Casey DeSmith again 38 seconds into the second on a one-timer off a Meier drop pass.
Jesper Boqvist made it 3-0 at 11:45 of the second off a no-look pass from Jack Hughes. Jack added his own goal at 13:15 of the third for the final score.
He did it after getting high-sticked in the first period and losing a tooth. Here’s the moment he spit it out:
The Devils landed Hellebuyck from Winnipeg on Friday for Dawson Mercer, Nick Bjugstad, Nico Daws, the rights to Alexander Command, a 2029 second-round pick and a 2027 seventh-round pick. The deal came the same day his suspension was set to end, which began on Sept. 16, so Tuesday was also his season debut.
We had him penciled in to start earlier in the day, and he delivered.
New Jersey is 8-4-0 and has won four in a row, going 6-1-0 over its last seven. Dallas fell to 7-4-1, with DeSmith making 22 saves in the loss.
