2 weeks Ago By James Nichols, New Jersey Hockey Now
The New Jersey Devils welcomed the Anaheim Ducks to the Prudential Center on Sunday night before embarking on a three-game road trip this week. Despite losing a key forward in the tilt due to injury, the Devils overcame the shortened bench and exploded for six goals on home ice. REQUIRED READING: Devils Coach Provides Pessimistic Injury Update on Curtis Lazar After a slow start to the season on home-ice, the Devils finally secured a win, although an imperfect one, in front of their own fans.
Devils Recap On the first shift for Kurtis MacDermid, he and Ducks heavyweight Ross Johnston dropped the mitts and engaged in a spirited fight. In terms of punches landed, MacDermid certainly won. Yet, the Devils weren’t able to swing that momentum to the scoresheet, as Brock McGinn gave Anaheim an early 1-0 lead.
The Devils kept up the pressure applied in the first period despite chasing a lead. It certainly paid off. On a delayed penalty, Jack Hughes finished a slightly broken tic-tac-toe rush.
Stefan Noesen added two consecutive goals, one on the power play, and Paul Cotter added extra insurance to extend the Devils’ lead to 4-1. Nico Hischier scored his NHL-leading ninth goal of the season in the third period to extend the Devils’ lead by four. Ryan Strome later finished an Anaheim rush to bring the deficit back within three.
Erik Haula hit the dagger with a minute remaining to help secure the 6-2 victory. Jacob Markstrom secured his fourth win of the season and finished Sunday night making 24 saves on 26 shots. Takeaways Caught Sleeping It’s still too early to claim the Devils have the same goaltending issues that they’ve had in seasons previous.
But it’s certainly hard to overlook the struggles their goalies have gone through of late. That didn’t change on Sunday against the Ducks with Markstrom in goal. The Devils owned most of the first period, out-shooting their opponent 16-7.
Yet, they entered the first intermission chasing a lead on the stick of McGinn, who wired a one past Markstrom. Brock McGinn picks his spot. 1-0 Ducks.
#FlyTogether pic.twitter.com/B6kuWpA0mm — Ducks on Victory+ (@DucksOnVictory) October 27, 2024 It doesn’t appear McGinn’s shot was redirected, nor does it look like Markstrom was screened.
The Devils paid for Markstrom to be a difference maker, and they have yet to reap the reward. Dam Breaking One of the issues the Devils have faced this season is even though they’ve won the shot and chance differentials, they’ve found themselves playing from behind. It happened a few nights ago in Detroit, then again on Long Island, and it almost appeared it was going to happen again with the Ducks in town at the Prudential Center.
However, the second period was when the dam began to break. The Devils left the first period up on shots 17-7, and dominated the scoring chance differential 11-3. They kept that pressure on and exploded for four goals in the second period, while limiting the Ducks to just three shots and one scoring chance.
It’s the Ducks, and they’re a relatively young team who is still believed to be in a rebuild, but the Devils needed to start somewhere. Now they just need to prove they can do it consistently. Let Off the Gas The Devils got the win, but it’s tough to call it a complete, 60-minute effort.
Even Sheldon Keefe thought the third period was no good. “I hated our third period,” Keefe said following the 6-2 win. The Devils’ head coach had every right to say it.
The Ducks didn’t do too much by way of applying pressure as a threat to the Devils. However, Strome did convert on a defensive breakdown. Further, the Devils didn’t dominate the puck the way they did through the first 40 minutes of the game.
Whereas through the first 40 minutes New Jersey accrued a positive 26-4 scoring chance differential at 5-on-5, the third period saw them only accrue a 4-3 scoring chance differential which indicated how less often they played with the puck. They got away with it on Sunday against the Ducks, but that won’t fly against a more seasoned team such as the Vancouver Canucks, who they will see on Wednesday. This article first appeared on New Jersey Hockey Now and was syndicated with permission.
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