Connor Hellebuyck’s first outing with the New Jersey Devils was enough to show why they made the move for him. Now comes the tougher part: doing it again against a Vegas Golden Knights team that just snapped out of a slump and is back on its home ice Friday night.
The Devils finish their three-game Western Conference trip in Vegas after taking a 5-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, a game that came on the back end of a back-to-back. New Jersey had Thursday off. The Golden Knights also had time to reset after beating the Ottawa Senators 4-1 on Tuesday to open a two-game homestand.
Hellebuyck’s Devils debut came Tuesday night, and he made it count by stopping 17 shots in a 5-1 win over the Dallas Stars. It was his first appearance since April 13. The 33-year-old did not report to training camp and was suspended by the Winnipeg Jets after asking for a trade during the offseason.
New Jersey landed him on Oct. 23, sending Nick Bjugstad, Nico Daws and Dawson Mercer, the rights to Alexander Command - the 12th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft - plus two draft picks to Winnipeg.
The Devils are expecting the kind of difference-maker who won the Hart Trophy as the NHL’s most valuable player in 2024-25 and also collected his third Vezina Trophy. That kind of pedigree is exactly why New Jersey brought him in to upgrade a goalie situation that had produced an .876 save percentage from Daws and Jake Allen through the club’s first 11 games, a mark that left the Devils tied for 23rd in the NHL at the time of the trade.
Allen was busy in Wednesday’s loss, turning aside 40 shots, but the game got away late. He allowed four goals in a span of just under 10 minutes in the third period, and the Devils’ four-game winning streak came to an end. New Jersey was also forced to absorb a season-high 45 shots.
“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.”
Vegas enters with a little momentum of its own after shaking off a three-game skid, its first losing streak of the season. The Golden Knights had been 8-2-0 before that stretch, then stopped it Tuesday despite being without their franchise goalie. Carter Hart was injured during the morning skate, so Adin Hill stepped in and made 25 saves.
Raphael Lavoie, activated with Hart sidelined, broke a tie with 11:59 left for his first NHL goal. William Karlsson and Jack Eichel then padded the lead with empty-net goals in the final two minutes.
Those three third-period goals matched the total Vegas scored in its previous two losses combined. The four goals overall were also the most the Golden Knights had put up in a game since their 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.”
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It was another frustrating night in a stretch that has now seen Vegas lose four of five, and the timing is hardly ideal with a four-game East Coast road trip set to begin Monday in Boston. The trip will tell a lot about whether the Knights can steady themselves quickly, because the margin for error has already started to shrink. [Read more 🡒]