Ryan Kesler celebrates as he scores a late third period goal to complete the comeback for Anaheim (Photo by Debora Robinson/Getty Images)
Recap
The Devils got off to a strong start last night, but weren’t able to hold a 2-0 lead eventually falling late in the 3rd period to a Ryan Kesler goal. Devante Smith-Pelly and Kyle Quincey got the Devils on the board in the second period to give the Devils a 2-0 lead. However, it didn’t take long for the Ducks to answer back. They scored just 16 seconds apart with goals from Rikard Rakell and Jakob Silfverberg late in the second period. Ryan Kesler scored with less than four minutes remaining in the game to seal the deal for Anaheim.
Games Notes
- The Devils power play continues to struggle. They’re in the midst of an 0/24 slump. They had the chance to tie things up after Ryan Kesler’s goal, but were unable to convert late in the third period. New Jersey doesn’t score a ton of goals as is, and with Taylor Hall out, they’ll need the power play to wake up sooner rather than later.
- Kyle Quincey had his best game as a Devil yet recording a goal and an assist. He was also +11 in shot attempts for the game. The Devils have been getting a good amount of offense from their defensemen as of late. They’ll need that to continue going forward, especially from bottom pair guys such as Quincey.
- Beau Bennett has been completely snake bitten to start the season. He’s had his fair share of scoring chances, but has yet to find the back of the net. He’s getting an opportunity on the first line with Taylor Hall out, but if he doesn’t start scoring soon, he’ll find himself back in a bottom 6 role again.
- Reid Boucher had himself a nice game, despite not getting on the score sheet. He had six shots on goal and had a couple of scoring chances. With Taylor Hall out for the next month, Boucher will have a great opportunity to show that he deserves to be a regular in the line up.
- With Yohann Auvitu out of the lineup, Jon Merrill made his season debut and looked fairly comfortable. He was +5 shot attempts, but he did make one costly mistake that led to Silfverberg’s game tying goal. He’ll need to clean up mistakes like that to maintain a regular spot in the lineup.