Connor Hellebuyck will not start for the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday in Winnipeg, the team announced Sunday night, hours after his 23-save shutout beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-0 at Scotiabank Arena. Jake Allen is expected to start at Canada Life Centre instead, in what was supposed to be Hellebuyck’s first game back in the building he called home for 11 seasons.
Yesterday in Toronto, Hellebuyck earned his first shutout as a Devil and became the first goaltender in franchise history to win each of his first five games with the club, while Nico Hischier reached 500 career points. The full story of that night is in our original breaking report.
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FINAL: New Jersey Devils 4, Toronto Maple Leafs 0
How to watch: New Jersey Devils at Winnipeg Jets, Tuesday, November 10, 2026, 7:00 p.m. ET at Canada Life Centre, Winnipeg
TV (US): MSGSN
Note: Hellebuyck will hold a media availability after Tuesday’s morning skate at Canada Life Centre, at his own request
Hellebuyck Will Not Start Against The Jets
The announcement came in a statement from general manager Sunny Mehta, released by the team after the Toronto game and reported in full by NHL.com. “This has been an organizational decision for us that we’ve debated at length,” Mehta said. “Connor Hellebuyck was adamant that he felt a duty to play on Tuesday in Winnipeg. However, in our estimation, playing in this game would potentially give us a reduction in our expected win probability.” The Devils posted the statement on X on Sunday night:
“A statement from Devils GM Sunny Mehta on our game Tuesday in Winnipeg.” – New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) on X, November 9, 2026
Hellebuyck did not hide his side of it. “I’m disappointed, but I understand,” he said, in quotes carried by TSN’s report of the announcement. “Playing there again and just facing the music and seeing the reaction, it’d be nice, but it’s out of my hands.” Head coach Sheldon Keefe gave the workload reason alongside the analytics one: Sunday was Hellebuyck’s third start in six nights, he joined the Devils without a training camp after his trade holdout, and the plan is for him to start both games against the Washington Capitals later this week, at home on Thursday and in Washington on Saturday. The NHL’s official highlights of the Toronto game show the performance the Devils are protecting:
The Numbers That Settled After The Shutout
By Monday morning the shutout carried two more lines than the first reports had. New Jersey Hockey Now’s by-the-numbers rundown records the Toronto win as Hellebuyck’s 350th career win, and the Associated Press report of the game put the shutout at the 46th of his NHL career. His Devils line is now settled at 5-0-0 with a 1.96 goals-against average and a .913 save percentage, per NHL.com, a sharp correction from the 2.44 and .891 he carried into Toronto. His first-period saves in Toronto, from the Devils’ official game feed, set the tone before Timo Meier scored twice in the second:
Hischier’s milestone also grew overnight. He finished the night at 501 career points, not 500, after adding his power-play goal in the third period, and Swiss Hockey News records the full line at 501 points in 627 regular-season games, third among Swiss-born players behind Roman Josi at 799 and Kevin Fiala at 528, with Nino Niederreiter next in line at 499. “It makes me a little proud, for sure,” Hischier said in NHL.com’s game recap. “But at the end of the day, like, trying to win something here. I want to get better memories with winning something for the team.”
A Hall Of Fame Night Wraps Up In Toronto
Sunday’s game was the Hockey Hall of Fame Game, and the weekend that framed it closes tonight. The Class of 2026, Patrice Bergeron, Carey Price, Pekka Rinne, Keith Tkachuk and Cindy Curley in the player category with Brian Burke as a builder, is inducted on Monday, November 9 in Toronto, after receiving their jackets before puck drop on Sunday and joining the ceremonial faceoff with Auston Matthews and Hischier. Two of the inductees, Price and Rinne, are goaltenders, which makes Hellebuyck’s shutout in their building, on their night, the weekend’s quiet footnote.
What Tuesday Now Looks Like For Both Teams
For Toronto, Monday brought no relief on the injury front, only confirmation of the list. TSN’s injury report has Jack Roslovic day-to-day with a lower-body injury after his late scratch, Colton Sissons out after leaving Sunday’s game in the second period with a lower-body injury of his own, Morgan Rielly out with the lower-body injury from Saturday, Chris Tanev returning from a planned maintenance day, and Kirill Marchenko still out since October 26. Captain Auston Matthews, held without a point for the first time in seven games, named the wider problem after the loss: “It’s just been tough for us to string together momentum and consistency through 60 minutes of play, and that’s really just been our Achilles’ heel all season long.” The Leafs host the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday at 8-9-2, second last in the Atlantic, in the middle of a six-game homestand.
For Hellebuyck, Tuesday is now a press conference instead of a start. He will address Winnipeg reporters after the morning skate and says he will explain, in as much detail as he chooses, why he asked for the trade, beyond the letter he posted to Jets fans on Instagram last Wednesday, in which he cited “some very challenging circumstances involving my family” and asked for privacy. “I know there’s a pretty sour taste in Winnipeg,” he said Sunday. “However I’m perceived I’m going to choose love and I’m going to choose to remember all the moments.” The Devils, 13-5-0 and winners of five straight, made the coldest version of the decision: protect the goaltender who has won every start, save him for Washington twice, and let Allen take the loudest road game of their season. Whether that reads as smart load management or a missed appointment in Winnipeg will be decided by Thursday and Saturday, not Tuesday.
