Jets’ Kyle Connor ‘didn’t even think it was a possibility’ that Hellebuyck wouldn’t play return game
The New Jersey Devils made waves on Sunday night when, following their 4-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, they announced that newly acquired star goalie Connor Hellebuyck would not start in his first game back in Manitoba against the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday.
The Devils’ statement, which cited a “reduction in our expected win probability” that would come along with Hellebuyck starting, has drawn the ire of fans and commentators alike.
It should come as no surprise that it also caught some of Hellebuyck’s former teammates with the Jets off guard, as the group was hoping to gain closure on their former goalie’s trade request and subsequent exit by having the opportunity to face him on the ice.
“I honestly didn’t even think that was a possibility,” Kyle Connor, Hellebuyck’s former teammate both with the Jets and with Team USA’s Olympic gold medal-winning team said Monday. “I was pretty surprised… I think we all hoped he was playing,” he told reporters, including Mike McIntyre of Winnipeg News.
New Jersey’s decision to keep Hellebuyck out of that game will spare him from the boos and chants of Winnipeg fans just a few weeks after star winger Brady Tkachuk, now with the Florida Panthers, was jeered heavily in his return to Canada’s capital against the Ottawa Senators.
Hellebuyck has been excellent for his new team since he was dealt in October. In five appearances, he has gone 5-0-0 with a .913 save percentage and 1.96 goals against average along with a shutout.
New Jersey has rattled off five straight victories, gone 9-1-0 in its past 10 games and taken a stranglehold on second place in the Metropolitan Division. The Devils are five points clear of the third-place New York Rangers but still trail the reigning Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes by four points with a game in hand for first.
Meanwhile the Jets, who were in free fall at the time of the trade, have righted the ship a bit with a three-game winning streak that has their record back up to 7-8-3.
