Recap
First Period
The New Jersey Devils came out flying offensively in the first period, tallying 22 shots on goal. Spencer Knight was fantastic though and stopped 21 of them. The one shot that went in was from Dougie Hamilton, his fifth of the season. It was a shot that went off of Knight’s shoulder, off the post, off his back, and into the back of the net.
The lead held until Carter Verhaeghe bolted up the ice and ripped a shot post far side with six second left to tie the period. This goal was a back-breaker to an otherwise terrific period.
Second Period
After a strong first period the Devils had possibly their worst period of the season. It started with a goal early from Eetu Luostarinen that made it 2-1. Just over a minute later, Jonathan Huberdeau scored to make it 3-1. The Devils challenged for offsides, but was ultimately upheld and New Jersey was penalized. Following that, just a few more short minutes later Anthony Duclair made it 4-1 and Blackwood was pulled. The domination continued for a majority of the period, though the score remained 4-1 after two.
Third Period
The third period was a lot better for the Devils. They controlled a lot of the play, but not enough. Spencer Knight was fantastic, making point blank save after point blank save to keep it a three goal game until the very end. Overall, it was a very bizarre game as New Jersey ended up leading the shot total race 46-41. They also had the same amount of shot attempts as Florida.
Notes
- Goaltending on both sides was a major factor in this one. The Devils let up four goals, a large part due to a bad few minute stretch from Mackenzie Blackwood. On the other side, Spencer Knight was lights out, stopping 45 of 46. The Devils had a higher expected goals-for % (xGF%) than the Panthers, but Knight was absurdly good.
- Fabian Zetterlund had a somewhat impressive NHL debut. Although he only played just over nine and a half minutes, he owned a 56.25% corsi-for percentage (CF%). He also had a very impressive 68.42 xGF%. I don’t think he had enough ice time to actually call this performance particularly good, but it’s definitely a good sign. It definitely warrants another shot in the lineup on Thursday.
All statistics are via Naturalstattrick.