After being down 4-2 in the third period, the New Jersey Devils (10-9-1) offense put their heads down and went to work. A Jack Hughes goal brought it to within one, followed up by a Nico Hischier game-tying tally on the power play. Just when it seemed like the game was destined for overtime, Curtis Lazar swooped in and scored the go-ahead goal with just over 20 seconds remaining in the game, locking up victory for the Devils over their rivals, the New York Islanders.
Recap
First Period
The first goal of the game came courtesy of a New York Islanders’ power play. Bo Horvat capitalized on some quick puck movement and buried a one-timer inside the right post and beating Vanecek.
The Devils would respond with a goal of their own just five minutes later, courtesy of some great patience by Michael McLeod. After picking up a loose puck in the neutral zone, McLeod rushed into the zone flanked by Alexander Holtz. Holtz charged to the back post, giving McLeod time and space to walk in and rip one low glove side and beat Ilya Sorokin.
Second Period
The Devils would keep the pressure up and snag the 2-1 lead just four minutes into the second period. After a bit of a scramble in the defensive zone and a big time Vitek Vanecek save, Jack Hughes and Dawson Mercer flew down the ice for an odd man rush. Hughes swung the puck open to the wide open Mercer who went top shelf to beat Sorokin.
Unfortunately, the wheels came off a bit for the Devils the rest of the second period, giving up three goals in just under a five-minute window. Mathew Barzal was first to get on the board in the second period with a breakaway goal after finding himself alone behind the defense on a strange play.
Cal Clutterbuck would follow that up just one minute later with a goal to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead. A seemingly harmless play that ends up having a bouncing puck sent right to the low slot, which was perfectly positioned for Clutterbuck to take a backhanded swat at that ultimately beat Vanecek.
Just four minutes after the Clutterbuck goal, J.G. Pageau would score what seemed like a backbreaking goal to ultimately end Vanecek’s night in net. After a bit of a defensive zone scramble, Pageau broke away from Ondrej Palat and found himself all alone for an easy back door goal off a nice little passing sequence.
Third Period
The push was on early and often from the Devils offense to start the third period, and who else but Jack Hughes to get them on the board and make it a one score game. After nearly scoring on a quick pass in close, Jack found himself with space alone in the right faceoff dot and fired home and absolute missile of a wrister off the Mercer feed, beating Sorokin low-glove side.
After a quick string of penalties, the Devils would end up getting a four on three and the lethal power play remained red hot. With some back and forth puck movement up near the top of the zone, Hughes would fire off a one timer that Sorokin did save, but in doing so took himself out of the crease and gave Nico Hischier probably one of the easiest goals of his career.
Things tightened up a bit after the game was tied, and as the seconds ticked away this game felt destined for overtime. The Devils, however, had a different outcome in mind. With just 30 seconds remaining, McLeod rushed into the offensive zone and cut right through the teeth of the defense, allowing the offense to get set in tight around Sorokin. McLeod handed the puck off to Kevin Bahl at the point, who put a wrist shot towards the far side of the net, bouncing off bodies before sitting right in front of Curtis Lazar. Lazar scooped the puck on his backhand and floated one by Sorokin, locking up the 5-4 victory.
Takeaways
Vitek Vanecek made some big saves at times, but goaltending still is making things difficult for this team on a consistent basis. This is not to say there aren’t other things the team needs to clean up in the defensive zone, but the goalies have to be able to make some tough saves every once in a while for this team to truly get on a roll. Vitek finished his night with a .778 save percentage, bringing his yearly number to an .879 which just will not cut it.
Jack Hughes had an absolutely stellar game, recording three points and firing nine shots on goal. Hughes currently sits with 26 points (seven goals, 19 assists) in 15 games and shows time and time again why he’s truly becoming a superstar in this league.
The depth guys having been putting together a nice string of games recently as well, especially Michael McLeod. He continues to be able to drive play in the offensive zone and has been creating at a fairly decent rate for his role. With a two point night, McLeod now has eight points in 20 games and is posting the best Corsi-for percentage (CF%) of his career at 54.9%, really settling in nicely as good depth for the roster.
What’s Next
The Devils will have another division rivalry game when they square off with the Philadelphia Flyers (11-10-1) Thursday night at 7:00 pm ET. The game is in Philadelphia at the Wells Fargo Center.