'Finally!' Hellebuyck wins his New Jersey debut over Dallas playing for the first time in 6 months

DALLAS (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck stood in front of his net during the singing of the “Star-Spangled Banner” and thought “Finally!” then played like a three-time Vezina Trophy winner in his first game in six months.

The 33-year-old enjoyed a multigoal lead for most of the night in his New Jersey debut and allowed one goal on 17 shots as the Devils beat the Dallas Stars 5-1 on Tuesday night.

“It was a lot of fun,” said Hellebuyck, who was traded four days ago by the Winnipeg Jets after his suspension for failing to report to training camp. His last NHL action prior to Tuesday came on April 13, a 6-2 loss at Vegas.

“The guys in front of me just played a perfect game for me to get acclimated,” he said. “Not a lot of shots, blocking everything, keeping everything to the outside. Letting me see things. Letting me touch the puck a lot.”

Devils coach Sheldon Keefe liked what he saw.

“He was exceptional,” Keefe said. “Not only does it seem like he’s in midseason form, but it seems like he’s been here a long time.”

Hellebuyck spent 11 seasons with the Jets, including a Presidents’ Trophy-winning season in 2024-25, and helped the United States win gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics this year.

A fifth-round draft pick in 2012 by Winnipeg, Hellebuyck is fifth on the U.S.-born goaltenders list with at least 345 career wins. Among U.S.-born goalies with 300 or more career starts, his .916 save percentage going into Tuesday ranked fourth and 2.58 goals-against average ranked sixth.

Hellebuyck said he felt few if any nerves getting back to NHL action.

“I’ve been doing this for a while,” he said. “They played so good in front of me that I was never really worried.”

Hellebuyck was skating in his native Michigan before the trade was completed and went through one practice and Tuesday’s optional morning skate. He has five seasons left on a seven-year contract with an annual salary cap hit of $8.5 million.

He played in familiar territory, going in with a 14-12-0 record against Dallas, a Central Division opponent of Winnipeg.

“I like the ice, but one hard part is it’s hot,” Hellebuyck said. “I sweat a lot in this game. But it’s all part of the adjustment, and it’s good to get one under me.”