The Devils Ran Out of Fuel in Winnipeg

Last night, the big storyline coming into the game was about Connor Hellebuyck. After Sunday night’s shutout of the Toronto Maple Leafs on the second half of a back-to-back, the team announced that Hellebuyck would not be starting in his return to Winnipeg. This created a media frenzy in Canada, with some downright acting like vultures as the Devils chose to keep their goalie fresher for the upcoming divisional games against Washington. Had Hellebuyck started, he would have had to play three games on one day of rest in a single week — and he hasn’t even been built up to his usual workload yet.

In a way, the energy that Devils skaters played with kind of proved the organization’s point last…