In the second leg of a back-to-back to open play after the 4 Nations Face-off, the New Jersey Devils (32-21-6, 3rd Metropolitan) shut out the Nashville Predators (20-29-7, 7th Central) 5-0 on the road. Though the score showed a complete blowout, it was more evenly played than that. Nevertheless, the Devils put their money where their mouth was and finished on every chance.
First Period
The Devils got out to a hot start in the first period, generating multiple odd-man rushes in the opening minutes, including a point-blank chance from Jack Hughes. Nashville looked to open the scoring with an early power play on a Johnathan Kovacevic trip but the Devils limited them to perimeter chances that didn’t hit the net. The Predators reclaimed some momentum after the power play, getting a couple of high-quality shots that Nico Daws kept out of the net.
The Predators went back to the man advantage midway through the period on a delay of game from Luke Hughes but once again couldn’t do anything, managing just one shot on goal. The Devils’ stellar penalty kill came up huge in the first period, holding a strong structure to keep the puck out of high-danger areas.
New Jersey capitalized on that momentum-boosting kill seconds, with Luke Hughes executing a dome hockey-style pass across the crease to Ondrej Palat, who wristed it past Justus Annunen to put the Devils on the board.
Nashville almost tied it up just after the goal, with Daws stopping Steven Stamkos on a high-danger opportunity. Not to be outdone, Annunen stopped the Palat line again on a chance where he looked dead to rights. No one capitalized on these late-period chances and the Devils went into the first intermission up 1-0.
The Devils thoroughly outplayed the Preds in the first period, holding them to seven shots, though all those shots were quality chances. The Devils notched a 47.22 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) at five-on-five but they had a higher volume of quality chances, earning a 52.92 expected goal percentage (xG%).
Second Period
The Predators got the jump on New Jersey coming into the second period, testing Nico Daws in goal with quality chance after quality chance. Nashville’s relentless attack tired out New Jersey’s skaters, trapping them in the defensive zone for an extended period. Luke Hughes and Seamus Casey played a big role in keeping Nashville off the scoresheet, taking a two-minute shift.
The game opened up after that shift with breakaways coming on both ends. Nico Hischier had a clean break from the blue line but couldn’t beat Annunen. Later in the period, Jack Hughes had the Devils’ third clean break of the night and his second but he couldn’t put it through Annunen’s five hole.
It was Dougie Hamilton who would extend the lead for New Jersey, receiving a pass along the boards from Nico Hischier and sniping a shot from a sharp angle to put the Devils up 2-0.
He wouldn’t be the only Devils defenseman to score in the second period. Seamus Casey continued his hot start to his NHL career with a laser beam of a shot from the blue line, a wicked wrister through traffic. His fourth goal in his ninth game played this year.
The Predators continued to put pressure on the Devils but mostly through rush chances and not sustained shifts in the offensive zone. Nico Daws shut the rushes down, allowing the Devils to take a 3-0 lead into the second intermission.
The Predators outplayed the Devils in terms of five-on-five possession, with New Jersey earning a 46.67 CF% but the Devils once again had the higher quality chances, earning a 51.19 xG%. But it’s what’s on the scoresheet that counts, and the Devils’ blue line came through in a big way with some smart goals.
Third Period
The Predators continued their strong play to start the third period, forcing Nico Daws to make highlight reel saves regularly. They dominated the pace of play until Michael McCarron took a cross-checking penalty to give the Devils their first power play of the night.
Stefan Noesen took advantage in his usual fashion, waiting patiently in front of the net and, in a fluid motion, turning around a pass from Nico Hischier into the net. Up 4-0, the Predators continued to put the pressure on but the game was all but lost at that point. Still, Nico Daws was forced to play like the game was on the line as the Devils’ transition defense broke down around him.
Tomas Tatar blew the game open midway through the period, gliding into the high slot and wristing an easy shot through traffic to give the Devils an insurmountable 5-0 lead.
The Predators appeared to spoil the shutout with a goal from Fedor Svechkov but it was reversed upon further review for offside. With that, the Devils preserved the 5-0 shutout win for Nico Daws.
Although the game was all but over pretty quickly in the third period, the Predators outplayed the Devils once again, with New Jersey notching a CF% of 30.00 and an xG% of 40.54.
Results
Sunday night was a much-needed win for the Devils, and not just because it gets them two points in the standings. The Devils have had a few games over this recent stretch, including on Saturday against Dallas, where they seemingly do everything right on offense except finish. Sunday night, the Devils were not in control of the game for much of the night but still found a way to not only put the puck in the back of the net but blow out Nashville. Every good team has a bad night, but the great ones turn their bad nights into wins.
Game Notes
- Nico Daws earned his first career shutout in spectacular fashion, coming up with clutch saves all night. He finished with 29 saves and 3.72 goals saved above expected (GSAx). It was another good night for Devils goaltending in a difficult time. Since their starter, Jacob Markstrom went down to injury against Boston, New Jersey has compiled 12.03 GSAx.
- New Jersey’s main weakness this season has been an uneven goal distribution between primary and secondary scoring. That wasn’t an issue Sunday night as top-six forwards Ondrej Palat and Stefan Noesen, defensemen Dougie Hamilton and Seamus Casey, and bottom-six winger Tomas Tatar all contributed.
- Nico Hischier had a nice bounce-back game after a mediocre performance against Dallas. He finished with three assists and led the team with a 4.06 gamescore.
- Ondrej Palat and Dougie Hamilton made NHL history in the first period, becoming the first players to ever score their 500th points on the same goal.
- Jesper Bratt extended his assist streak to ten games last night, passing Petr Sykora for the longest streak in franchise history. He is approaching the Devils’ single-season assist record, currently held by Scott Stevens with 60. Bratt has 51 with 23 games left to play.
Up Next
The Devils will take on the Colorado Avalanche at 9:30 pm ET on Wednesday.