Hildeby made 22 saves to help the Toronto Maple Leafs pick up their first win of the season.
Hildeby made 22 saves to help the Toronto Maple Leafs pick up their first win of the season.
NEWARK, N.J. — Dennis Hildeby got word on Wednesday that he was going to be making his NHL debut.
An overwhelming moment for him and his family, the Swedish goaltender only communicated with his family back home in Sweden as he aimed to focus on the task ahead.
"I didn't want to call them, honestly. Because I know they would be pretty emotional, too, "Hildeby said. "I just wanted to stick to myself these past 24 hours."
The 6-foot-7 goaltender made 22 saves to help the Toronto Maple Leafs defeat the New Jersey Devils 4-2 at Prudential Center in Newark on Thursday.
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The thought of the 23-year-old goaltender making his NHL debut seemed unlikely just 48 hours prior. Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube revealed that goaltender Joseph Woll was unable to dress for the club's season opener with lower-body tightness and Hildeby was called up to dress.
Anthony Stolarz got the nod in goal for the club's season-opening 1-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Wednesday.
Hildeby got words of encouragement from both Stolarz and Woll before making his NHL debut. He also felt his experience with the Maple Leafs last season, when he was called up but did not play, helped prepare him for the experience.
"When you don't know stuff, you're, me at least, you get kind of nervous. Because I don't want to know what to expect.," Hildeby explained. "So just knowing your day-to-day life, then, yeah, helps a lot for sure."
The 23-year-old Hildeby had an impressive pre-season with the Maple Leafs posting a .947 save percentage in two games and earned the call-up to the NHL over Matt Murray, who was believed to be the presumptive No. 3 goaltender heading into the season.
"Calm. Cool. Collected, just like the other big boy we got. Yeah, he looked like a vet in there tonight," Maple Leafs forward Steven Lorentz said of Hildeby. "Obviously a lot of high-end skill up and down their lineup, and he just was so poised in that. So it's great to see a young guy like that. So I'm excited to see what he's got after this."
Hildeby should dress for at least one more game with Woll on injured reserve and not available for Toronto's home opener against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
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But Hildeby, who was selected in the fourth round (122nd overall) in the 2022 Draft, is a fine options for the Maple Leafs in addition to Anthony Stolarz as the club figures out how to maneuver around Woll's injury issues.
"He got tested on the power play for sure. He came up big," Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube said of Hildeby. "I thought he made some real good saves for us and very happy for him."
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