Four Nations Final. Olympic Gold Medal Game. Random November Thursday night. What do all three have in common? How about the starting goalies? Connor Hellebuyck vs. Jordan Binnington. A goaltender rivalry between two very different masked men. One is technically sound and decorated for his regular-season success. The other is less technically structured but has the postseason hardware to bolster his resume. 

Thursday night, at Prudential Center, the New Jersey Devils, led by Hellebuyck, hosted the St. Louis Blues and Binnington for a game on Military Appreciation Night. On a night that celebrated the service and lives of those who have served in the U.S. armed forces, it was perhaps fitting that these two goalies, who have led their teams into countless battles, faced off. 

The result was a 5-4 overtime Devils victory that may not have reached the heights of their international rivalry, but that still thrilled the fans in attendance. Of course, they were helped by Anthony Mantha’s three-point (two goals) night, Jack Hughes’ and Luke Hughes’ multi-point efforts and Jesper Bratt’s two-point game, including the overtime-winning goal. 

“It’s hard to get two points every game in this league,” Luke Hughes said. “Anytime you get two points is big and we’ll take the win. But like I keep saying, we just gotta keep growing and keep getting better and learning how to win these types of games. We’re playing different games and sometimes we’re down, sometimes we’re up three goals. So we just gotta keep learning, growing as a team.”

Hellebuyck came into the game riding a three-game win streak since coming to the Devils. On this night, when he clearly wasn’t at his best, he stopped 28 of the 32 shots he faced. At the other end of the ice, Binnington, who has declined in recent years after leading the Blues to their 2019 Stanley Cup championship, made 31 saves on the 36 shots he faced. 

Not counting international competitions, this was the first time these two netminders faced off in The NHL without it being a battle between the Blues and Winnipeg Jets. In those 12 prior clashes, Hellebuyck held a 9-1-2 edge over his fellow goalie. Binnington’s record in those 12 meetings was an unsightly 3-8-1. Hellebuyck also held the edge in SV% (.917 to .903) and GAA (2.40 to 3.08). 

However, a quick examination reveals something interesting: Binnington faced a heavier cumulative workload than Hellebuyck during those games. The St. Louis goaltender faced 33 more shots and made 25 more saves than Hellebuyck during those contests. 

At the international level, things weren’t so one-sided, with each netminder earning a hard-fought win over the other.

During the Final of the Four Nations, Hellebuyck’s Team USA comrades put up 33 shots against Team Canada, with Binnington making 31 saves for a .939 SV%. By contrast, Team Canada’s skaters only put up 25 shots on Hellebuyck, who made 22 saves for an .880 SV% in the overtime loss.

That narrative flipped in the Gold Medal Game at the Olympics as Hellebuyck was forced to make 41 saves on 42 shots for a .976 SV% while Binnington only saw 28 shots, made 26 saves and had a .929 SV% in the overtime loss. 

On Thursday night, right out of the gate, Hellebuyck was tested and made the save on Dylan Holloway’s shot off a two-on-one rush 30 seconds into the game. However, that was not a precursor to what was to come.

The Devils proceeded to take over the first period, compiling an all-situations CF% of 72.5%. At 7:34 of the first period, Luke Hughes, off a pass from Brett Pesce, fired a shot from the high slot that beat Binnington to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead. By the end of the first, it was St. Louis’ netminder who had the gaudier save total, having faced 16 Devils shots while Hellebuyck only saw four from the Blues. 

Hellebuyck’s next major test was on a point-blank shot from Jimmy Snuggerud early in the second period. In fact, he made three of them as the Blues’ winger got two more cracks at the puck before Hellebuyck was finally able to freeze play. Moments later, Jake Neighbours laid out Nico Hischier. Timo Meier made a beeline for Neighbours and the fight was on, with haymakers flying from both players. Meier received 17 penalty minutes for his actions (two for instigating, five for fighting and a 10-minute misconduct). 

Then, just before Meier was finally set to be released from the box, Anthony Mantha and Jack Hughes combined on a give-and-go goal that saw Mantha pass the puck to Hughes, who fed Mantha back, from the low right circle, as New Jersey’s winger flew down the slot toward the crease. In one motion, Mantha redirected the puck past Binnington and the Devils led 2-0. 

At 15:17 of the second period, Amadeus Lombardi was assessed a slashing penalty. On the ensuing Blues’ power-play, Robert Thomas scored to cut the Devils’ lead to 2-1 and prove that Hellebuyck’s night wasn’t going to be as calm as it had looked.

In hockey, there’s almost a game within a game. With that in mind, the Devils stormed back, scoring two goals in 19 seconds. 

The first came off the stick of Jesper Boqvist, who took the feed from Luke Hughes, drove down the slot and faked out Binnington to give the Devils a 3-1 lead. Mantha followed with a breakaway that saw him open up Binnington and slide the puck through the netminder’s five-hole to give the Devils a 4-1 lead. 

The game began to turn when Binnington stoned Jack Hughes on a breakaway early in the third period. With the momentum now flowing St. Louis’ way, the Blues proceeded to score three goals in 3:08 (Mason McTavish, Philip Broberg and Dalibor Dvorsky) to tie the game 4-4 with 5:06 left in regulation. 

“We weren’t playing hard,” Mantha said. “We were maybe a little bit more soft. I was on the ice for all three goals against, so I’ll need to look at those again and be better.”

“We didn’t extend our lead early enough to put the other team away, so they just kept playing,” Devils Head Coach Sheldon Keefe said. “Even the second period, to me, is not very good and I thought we paid for it. I thought he looked, Helle looked tired in the third period. And I think that’s because that’s the most work he’s had. 

“It’s the first time he’s played the second game with one day rest. And then, on top of that, it was an overtime, shootout game the other night, plus he had the most work today and all of that is, I don’t think he was at his best in the third. But it’s because we had to rely on him too much in that second.”

Keefe then finally called a timeout to settle down his team. 

“It was more just, let’s get back to our game,” Hellebuyck said about Keefe’s message during the timeout and again between the end of the third and the start of overtime. “Let’s not panic and stop going east and west and go more north.”

For the second time in as many games, overtime was up next. This time, the extra period only lasted 1:26 as Dougie Hamilton sprung Jesper Bratt for a breakaway. Bratt broke in on Binnington and delivered the game-winning goal to give the Devils their 5-4 victory. 

“We know still what we can create,” Bratt explained about New Jersey’s ability to win a game even though they made far too many mistakes. “I mean, we’re still a very confident group. And I think that there’s times in the first period that I think that we’re playing really well and times in the second period we’re playing really well. And I think that today was one of those games. We didn’t need a lot of looks to create some of those really good goals. 

“I think that kind of stepped us ahead and we, like I said, we still have a lot of things with us that we carry on, that we think that we can improve on, that we’re gonna have to be a lot sharper on the next game.”

The Devils have plenty to work on, as does Hellebuyck. But it just goes to show you, over the last few years, whenever Hellebuyck and Binnington square off, there’s a good chance that overtime will be in the offing and both goalies, no matter how well or poorly they’re playing, will find a way to make the game as tight as can be.