Devils vs. Stars: Connor Hellebuyck Wins His New Jersey Debut as Nico Hischier Scores Twice

Connor Hellebuyck's first night in a New Jersey sweater was supposed to be the test. Four days after Winnipeg traded the three-time Vezina Trophy winner to the Devils, he walked into the building of a team riding a five-game winning streak, against a Dallas group that entered the night allowing a league-best 1.68 goals per game. Then his new teammates made the whole thing look like a warmup skate.

The New Jersey Devils beat the Dallas Stars 5-1 on Tuesday night at American Airlines Center. Nico Hischier scored twice, both Hughes brothers found the net, and Hellebuyck stopped 17 of 18 shots for his first win since April 9. The Devils have won four straight. The Stars, who came in riding a five-game winning streak, just gave up their most goals in a game all season.

A Fast Start and a Second-Period Avalanche

Hischier set the tone before the game was three minutes old. The play started with a Johnathan Kovacevic outlet and went through Luke Evangelista before the captain snapped one past Casey DeSmith at 2:41. Timo Meier did not get an assist, but his hard drive to the net opened the lane, and Dallas challenged the goal for goaltender interference against him. The challenge failed. Hischier was happy to explain whose goal it really was. "If you look what Timo did," he said, "he sprinted through, which is always very hard for the goalie, for the defender, and that made that sprint open up the option for me to cut in the middle."

The second period is where this one got out of hand. Hischier struck again just 38 seconds in, this time with Meier and Luke Hughes picking up the assists. Jesper Boqvist made it 3-0 at 11:45. Fresh off the bench, he joined the attack and beat DeSmith far side with a wrist shot, with Jack Hughes and Arseny Gritsyuk assisting.

Nine seconds later, things turned physical. After Brenden Dillon hit a Dallas player, Stars captain Jamie Benn fought Dillon and was assessed an instigator minor, a fighting major and a 10-minute misconduct, according to the Devils. Dillon got five for fighting.

The Turning Point: 28 Seconds

Dallas finally got one back at 16:08 of the second, when Justin Hryckowian tipped in a Tyler Myers shot, with Colin Blackwell also assisting. For a moment, a 3-1 game with a full period left felt live.

Luke Hughes killed that idea fast. Just 28 seconds after the Stars scored, the defenseman beat DeSmith with a wrist shot off feeds from Dougie Hamilton and Anthony Mantha, and the three-goal cushion was back. If there was a window for a Dallas comeback, it lasted about as long as a TikTok.

Jack Hughes closed it out at 13:15 of the third with a snap shot, set up by Brett Pesce and Jesper Bratt. That goal had a backstory. In the first period, Jack took a high stick to the face from Hryckowian and, per the Devils, lost a few teeth. He returned for the second period wearing a full face shield and still finished with a goal and an assist.

Hellebuyck Settles In

Hellebuyck's debut did not require heroics, and he would be the first to say so. Dallas managed only 18 shots, and New Jersey had a 22-shot total after two periods that the Devils say was the most the Stars had allowed through 40 minutes all season. "I thought the guys in front of me just played a perfect game for me to get acclimated," Hellebuyck said. "I got to work through a little bit of rust, but I thought it was just a perfect game top to bottom."

His new captain noticed the vibe immediately. "He just spreads this calmness out. He's a very calm goalie," Hischier said.

Hischier's two goals gave him a team-high seven, and it was his second two-goal game of the season, per the AP. The Devils also noted he now has 14 points in 17 career games against Dallas. Luke Hughes finished with a goal and an assist in 22:58, and Jack matched him with a goal and an assist. Boqvist's goal was his fourth in 10 games, which the team pointed out equals his entire output from last season with Florida in 73 games. Mantha, meanwhile, played his 600th NHL game.

Head coach Sheldon Keefe credited the defensive buy-in for the offense that followed. "So we're just trying to get them to understand that that's the ticket, that's the way to do it," Keefe said.

For Dallas, DeSmith made 22 saves on 27 shots in his third start of the season. He had allowed only two goals in each of his previous starts, according to the AP. Stars defenseman Kyle Capobianco was helped off the ice about five minutes into the third period with an apparent leg injury and did not return.

Stats That Matter

• 5: Goals allowed by Dallas, its most in a game this season.
• 27-18: New Jersey's edge in shots on goal.
• 17 of 18: Hellebuyck's saves in his Devils debut, a .944 save percentage.
• 3-for-3: The Dallas penalty kill, which has now killed 22 straight over six games according to the AP. It did not matter.
• 31-25: New Jersey's edge in hits on a night that got physical.

What It Means

The Devils climb to 8-4-0 with 16 points, have won four straight and six of their last seven, and are 2-2-0 on the road. There is no time to celebrate: this was the first half of a back-to-back, and New Jersey visits Colorado on Wednesday.

Dallas falls to 7-4-1 with 15 points and 4-3-0 at home. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak and came in the fourth game of a season-long six-game homestand. Montreal visits Thursday, and the Stars will want to remember what made them so stingy before this.

The New Goalie Glow

There is a certain new-phone energy to a goalie debut like this: everything runs smoothly, nothing has crashed yet, and the whole room is impressed. The real test comes on the nights when the team in front of him is not this sharp. For one night in Dallas, though, Hellebuyck's time in New Jersey started about as cleanly as it possibly could.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and team notes as reported by the New Jersey Devils on nhl.com.