The New Jersey Devils (40-15-6) fell to the Vegas Golden Knights (37-19-6) 4-3 in a shootout on Friday night. The loss snapped a three-game win streak for the Devils who did pick up a point in the contest. Adin Hill was stellar in net for Vegas, stopping 47 of 50 shots and four more in the shootout. He turned aside 3.05 goals above expected in the win.
The Golden Knights remain atop the Pacific Division while the Devils are now two points behind Carolina in the Metropolitan Division.
Game Summary
First Period
The Devils started quickly after the opening puck drop, controlling play early. New Jersey fired six of the game’s first seven shots, with the best chase falling to Nico Hischier who was denied on a breakaway.
Despite that early dominance though, it was Vegas who struck first. Jonathan Marchessault found a rebound off the end boards and slid it into an open cage to give the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead eight minutes into the game.
After the goal, the Devils continued to surge, but still couldn’t find an equalizer. However, the Devils went to the game’s first power play with five minutes to go in the first. Midway through the man advantage, Jack Hughes snapped a wicked cross-seam pass to Jesper Bratt who buried a one-timer from the circle to tie the game at 1.
Minutes later, the Devils were once again rewarded for their dominant play. Dawson Mercer skated onto a loose puck and snapped it home off the far post to give Mew Jersey a 2-1 lead with 26 seconds to go in the period, which they took to the intermission. The goal extended Mercer’s goal streak to eight consecutive games, tying a franchise record.
After one, shots were a whopping 16-4 in favor of New Jersey. The Devils posted a 69.05% Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and an outstanding 81.45% expected goals-for percentage (xGF%) at five-on-five.
Second Period
The Devils continued to threaten early in the second period, but Vegas quickly stepped up their own game. New Jersey was unable to connect on some passes in front of goal, and Vegas was beginning to test Akira Schmid the other way. Chandler Stephenson was stopped on a partial breakaway before Jonathan Marchessault was robbed from the slot after a brutal Ondrej Palat giveaway.
However, Marchessault would not be silenced for long. The 32-year-old winger knotted the score at two after getting onto a deflected Ivan Barbashev pass and sniping it glove side on Schmid seven minutes into the period.
From there, the play was more balanced, but Vegas got their first power play opportunity late in the period. The Golden Knights had nearly two full minutes of pressure, but Schmid rose to the occasion, making a trio of tremendous saves to keep the game tied.
The Devils gained momentum from the successful penalty kill, but Adin Hill denied a couple of great looks from Dawson Mercer and Jesper Bratt, and the period ended tied at 2.
In the second period, shots were 14-10 in favor of Vegas. The Golden Knights controlled play as well, posting a 47.22 CF%, but a 63.49 xGF% at five-on-five.
Third Period
It was Vegas who broke the deadlock early in the third period. After Tomas Tatar fired wide on a three-on-two, the Golden Knights came the other way on a two-on-one. Marchessault found Jack Eichel who beat Schmid five-hole, giving Vegas a 3-2 lead with 16 minutes to go.
With 9:38 to go, the Devils went to the power play, but it was Vegas who had the best chance. William Karlsson was hooked by Palat on a shorthanded breakaway and awarded a penalty shot. However, Schmid turned him aside with a stick save, keeping it a 3-2 game.
The Devils still had a minute and twenty seconds of power play time, but could not get set up in the offensive zone. However, moments after the power play expired, Miles Wood jammed home his own rebound in the blue paint to tie the game at three with seven minutes to go.
New Jersey nearly grabbed the lead seconds later when Nathan Bastian fired just wide, before Alec Martinez hit the crossbar at the other end. Ultimately though, neither team could find a late winner, and overtime was needed.
In the third, the Devils dominated play, outshooting the Golden Knights 14-9. At five-on-five, NJ had a 66.67 CF% and a 79.63 xGF%. After regulation, shots were 41-27 in favor of NJ with the Devils owning a 63.49 CF% and a 72.39 xGF% at five-on-five.
Overtime
Simply put, the Devils dominated the three-on-three overtime as much as any team has all season. In the five minute extra session, scoring chances were 10-0 in favor of New Jersey while high danger-chances were 4-0. The Devils had 100% of the expected goals at 0.66 to 0.
However, as Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer, Jesper Boqvist and more fired puck after puck at Adin Hill, the Devils could not find the winner. With just over a minute to go, Boqvist clipped the post from a sharp angle and Bratt nearly won it on a breakaway as time expired, but lost the handle at the last moment with back pressure from William Karlsson that left the Devils bench asking for a penalty shot to no avail.
With no winner, a shootout was needed for just the fourth time this season for the Devils. After overtime, the final shots tally was 50-27 in favor of NJ.
Shootout
In the shootout, Adin Hill remained locked in, stopping all four New Jersey shooters in Tatar, Hamilton, Mercer, and Bratt.
Akira Schmid matched him through three rounds against Marchessault, Jack Eichel, and Reilly Smith, but Shea Theordore won it in round four. The 27-year-old defenseman snuck a backhand shot through Schmid, securing the second point for Vegas.
Wrap Up
For New Jersey, no player had a multipoint night, with six Devils finding the scoresheet. Dawson Mercer extending his goal streak to eight games to tie a franchise record with Paul Gardner in 1977-1978 was the most notable of those points.
In net, Akira Schmid stopped 24 of 27 shots and allowed 0.24 goals above expected in the shootout loss.
Adin Hill was the star of the game, though. The 26-year-old netminder turned aside 47 of 50 shots, stopping an absurd 3.05 goals saved above expected in his 100th career game.
Game Notes
Dawson Mercer’s Heater Continues
As mentioned above, Dawson Mercer scored in an eighth consecutive game, tying a franchise record. Per NHL PR, the only player under the age of 22 to ever have a longer goal streak was Wayne Gretzky with goals in nine straight in 1981-1982. That’s pretty good company for the Newfoundland native to aim for Sunday in Arizona.
However, Mercer had a tremendous night besides his goal. At five-on-five, his line with Tomas Tatar and Nico Hischier posted an 80.99 xGF%. Scoring chances were 18-3 in favor of the Devils with this trio on the ice, and high danger chances were 9-2 in the Devils’ favor.
Graves-Marino Dominate
After a bit of a difficult game in Colorado, Ryan Graves and John Marino bounced back in a big way on Friday. Against Vegas, the pairing both posted xGF% above 86.00 at five-on-five. Against Colorado, Graves and Marino posted a 53.00 and 52.00 xGF%, respectively.
Those numbers against Colorado were certainly passable, but in a game the Devils dominated, those figures were about 15% lower when Marino and Graves were on the ice. Against Vegas, New Jersey’s xGF% was roughly 25% higher with the pairing on the ice.
Moreover, Graves and Marino logged heavy minutes on Friday, with both playing over 22 minutes. During that time, the Devils had over 83% of the scoring chances and over 76% of the high danger chances. The pair has also played the more “difficult” minutes all season, and that held true on Friday. Marino had the lowest percentage of shifts starting in the offensive zone on the team at 25% while Graves was the second lowest among defensemen at 40%.
Timo Meier Will Play On Hughes’ Wing
It was a better night for the trio of Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, and Yegor Sharangovich, but still not an overly impactful one. The line had a 72.22 CF% and a 60.48 xGF% at five-on-five, but were outscored 2-0 while on the ice. Those breakdowns led to Sharangovich appearing to be benched early in the third period while Lindy Ruff bumped Ondrej Palat up in his place.
This trio is continuing to struggle to click at five-on-five, entering the night with a 44.43% xGF% in six games together. With these struggles and the Hischier line continuing to thrive, it becomes increasingly obvious that Meier will slot in with Hughes and Bratt. Meier participated as an extra forward during the morning skate before the game, but did wear a contact jersey, per Sam Kasan, as his Devils debut gets closer.
Final Game Against The Pacific
Unfortunately for New Jersey, this was the final game against a Pacific Division opponent. The Devils finish the season 14-0-2 against the Pacific, claiming 30 of a possible 32 points. The only two losses came in overtime at Seattle in January and in Friday’s shootout loss at Vegas.
What’s Next
The Devils wrap up their three-game road trip in Arizona on Sunday. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM ET on MSGSN.
Note: All statistics via Natural Stat Trick.