Connor Hellebuyck stopped 28 of 32 shots on Thursday as the New Jersey Devils beat the St. Louis Blues 5-4 in overtime at the Prudential Center. It was his fourth game for the club and his fourth win.
Only one goaltender in the franchise’s history has managed that. John Vanbiesbrouck won each of his first four for New Jersey in 2000-01, aged 37, and never lost in a Devils sweater at all, going 6-3-0 across nine appearances in parts of two seasons.
NHL Public Relations also noted that Hellebuyck became the fifth goaltender in league history to win each of his first four games with more than one club.
Goals allowed in Hellebuyck’s four Devils wins:
| Dallas | Vegas | Edmonton | St. Louis |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
How has Connor Hellebuyck played for the Devils?
The table above holds the oddity. Hellebuyck has conceded exactly one more goal in each successive start, ten in total on 92 shots, which means the wins have kept coming while the goaltending has drifted in the other direction. Thursday was the first night his team had to rescue him rather than the reverse.
New Jersey led 4-1 going into the final ten minutes before St. Louis scored three times in 3:08 to force overtime, where Jesper Bratt settled it.
None of which has dented the overall picture. The Devils are 11-5-0, have won three in a row and taken seven of their last eight, and sit second in the Metropolitan Division having missed the playoffs last season. They were 7-4-0 when they acquired him on October 23.
Thursday was also the second time Hellebuyck has faced Jordan Binnington since the Olympic gold medal game in Milan, where the American beat Canada. He won that one too.
Anthony Mantha scored twice with an assist, Luke Hughes added a goal and an assist, and Jack Hughes and Brett Pesce contributed two assists each.
Hellebuyck hadn’t played an NHL game between April 13 and October 27, having sat out his entire training camp during the standoff with Winnipeg. The Jets, meanwhile, have won four of sixteen.
Read more:
