Hellebuyck Blanks Maple Leafs In Record Win

Hellebuyck Maple Leafs Shutout Sets A Devils First

The record is the story of the night. Sportsnet’s report of the game records that Hellebuyck, acquired from the Winnipeg Jets last month, became the first goaltender in Devils franchise history to win each of his first five games with the club. He arrived in Toronto at 4-0-0 with a 2.44 goals-against average and an .891 save percentage as a Devil, numbers the NHL.com’s NHL On Tap listed before puck drop, and he left with the cleanest line of his New Jersey start: 23 shots faced, 23 saves, and a shutout in the Hall of Fame Game.

The shutout was earned, not protected. Toronto pushed the volume battle its way in attempts, 54 to 45, and still got nothing past him. Metrics Arena’s game analysis credits Hellebuyck with stopping all 10 of Toronto’s best looks from in tight and finishing at plus-1.96 goals saved above expected, meaning the chances Toronto created were worth about two goals and he took both away. John Tavares and Dakota Mermis rang posts behind him, the closest a depleted home lineup came all night.

Context sharpens what the five wins mean. Three nights earlier against St. Louis, Hellebuyck had taken public blame for mistakes in a 5-4 overtime win and framed the night as a lesson, telling the Devils’ official game story: “These are the lessons that you want to learn early. These are going to pay dividends in your playoff time.” Sunday in Toronto was the other side of that standard: no mistakes to own, no late scramble to survive, and a record no Devils goaltender before him had set.

Meier Scores Twice In Four Minutes

For half the game, one goal was going to be enough pressure. The first period finished scoreless, and the break came at 8:28 of the second, when Timo Meier was left alone in front after an offensive zone faceoff and one-timed the opener home. The Devils’ official recap on NHL.com notes it was Meier’s second goal of the season and his first in 10 games, and the assist on it carried its own history, covered in the next section.

Meier doubled the lead at 12:44, when a Jack Hughes shot deflected off him and past Anthony Stolarz. Hughes and Jesper Bratt assisted on the second goal, and each of them finished the night with two assists. Meier scored twice on five shots, ending a long personal drought with the two goals that decided the game in a span of four minutes and 16 seconds. Stolarz stopped 25 shots for Toronto, and for two periods he kept a short-handed team within reach of a game it never quite entered.

Hischier Reaches 500 Points, Third Swiss Player Ever

Declan Chisholm and Nico Hischier assisted on Meier’s first goal, and that single point was his 500th in the NHL. The Devils’ official recap confirms the assist was his 500th career NHL point, reached in a building where he had entered the night on 499 after picking up a point against the Islanders on Saturday. Hischier had been building to the number all week, moving from 497 at the start of it to 498 against Edmonton, holding at 498 against St. Louis and reaching 499 on Long Island.

The company puts the milestone in its place. Sportsnet’s key stat from the game records that Hischier became the third Swiss-born player in NHL history with 500 career points, joining Roman Josi at 799 and Kevin Fiala at 528. Hischier then added the goal that ended any argument about the result, scoring on the power play at 9:49 of the third period. It was his eighth goal of the season and his fifth on the man advantage. Connor Brown closed the scoring into an empty net at 17:23, assisted by Cody Glass.

A Depleted Toronto Lineup Slides Again

Toronto’s night has to be read with its absences attached. Morgan Rielly sat out with the lower-body injury he suffered in Saturday’s loss to the Montreal Canadiens, Chris Tanev missed the game for a planned maintenance day, and Jack Roslovic was a late scratch with a lower-body injury despite taking part in warm-ups. TSN’s injury report lists Roslovic as day-to-day, a real loss for a forward who has eight goals and 10 assists in 18 games as Auston Matthews’ linemate. Colton Sissons then left after the second period with a lower-body injury of his own, and Kirill Marchenko has not played since October 26.

Even allowing for all of that, the slide is now the headline on Toronto’s side. The Maple Leafs have lost three straight games and five of their last six in regulation, falling to 8-9-2 with 18 points in 19 games, second last in the Atlantic Division. The Devils, by contrast, improved to 13-5-0 and have won nine of their last 10 games, including a 5-4 overtime comeback win over the Islanders on Saturday in the first half of the same back-to-back Toronto was playing. Before puck drop, the Hockey Hall of Fame’s class of 2026 was honoured at Scotiabank Arena: Carey Price, Patrice Bergeron, Pekka Rinne, Keith Tkachuk and Cindy Curley enter the player category on Monday, with Brian Burke going in as a builder.

Winnipeg Waits For Hellebuyck On Tuesday

The schedule now hands this story its sharpest possible next chapter. New Jersey visits the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, and Hellebuyck will face the team he left on October 23 after demanding the trade that sent him to the Devils. He makes that trip as a franchise record holder, five wins from five starts and a shutout in his last game, against the club that moved him less than three weeks ago. Toronto faces the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday as well, carrying a three-game losing streak and a lineup whose next injury update matters as much as its next result. Sunday night in Toronto belonged to the goaltender: a first shutout for his new club, a first in franchise history, and a reminder that the biggest trade of the young season is still paying out.