The New Jersey Devils notched their fifth win over their last six games in a multi-goal victory late Friday night. The Devils improved to 27-22-2 on the season courtesy of a 5-4 defeat of the league-worst Vancouver Canucks.

New Jersey is now three points back of the Islanders for third place in the Metropolitian Division. They are also four points back in the race for the final wild card spot.

Recap

Period One

The Devils started the game off strong as 21-year-old Lenni Hämeenaho scored his first career NHL goal. Hämeenaho snuck a rebound in past Kevin Lankinen to give New Jersey the 1-0 lead just 1:41 into the contest.

The rest of the period was relatively tame. The Canucks received the period’s only power play, but the Devils killed it off relatively easily.

New Jersey outshot Vancouver 8-7 in the period. They also edged the Canucks in scoring chances and high-danger chances as they took the deserved 1-0 lead into intermission.

Period Two

The second frame was quite the chaotic one as it started out wonderfully for the Devils. New Jersey struck for two quick goals, within 30 seconds of each other, to extend their lead to 3-1. Nico Hischier rifled home a shot from the slot on the power play then Cody Glass redirected home a Lenni Hämeenaho shot from the point.

Unfortunately, the second period wasn’t all good. Vancouver responded to the Devils’ two quick goals with a goal of their own after Jacob Markström was unable to corral a relatively harmless shot and gave up the rebound goal. Then, after Nico Hischier caught a stick up high, and Conor Garland was sent to the penalty box for four minutes, it was Vancouver that struck early on the Devils’ long man-advantage.

Jesper Bratt made a poor play at the Canucks’ blue line which led to a two-on-one goal the other way. Fortunately, thanks to a Connor Brown slot tally late in the power play, New Jersey extended their lead back out to two goals.

The scoring didn’t stop there though. Vancouver added a goal late in the frame to get within one. Markström, albeit on a bit of a tougher shot, allowed another rebound that found its way past the Devils’ Swedish netminder once again.

After two periods, New Jersey lead 4-3. In the six-goal second frame, the Devils did outshoot Vancouver 13-9 in the period. However, one could argue that the Canucks had the higher quality of the opportunities, especially down the stretch.

Period Three

Vancouver came out hungry in the third period looking for the game-tying goal. It resulted in them getting a power play about halfway through the frame which New Jersey successfully killed off.

After that kill, in what was a broken play, Cody Glass was able to settle down a loose puck off a shovel pass by Timo Meier, and put it past Kevin Lankinen for his second goal of the game.

Vancouver continued to press the remainder of the game. After Jesper Bratt had a few chances to bury a goal on the empty net, Vancouver was able to strike with another rebound goal to bring the deficit back to one. Fortunately, the Devils were able to hold on from there, posting the 5-4 victory.

Wrap Up

Three different Devils had a multi-point night. Cody Glass led the way with two goals and an assist. Lenni Hämeenaho and Nico Hischier had a goal and an assist each. It was Hämeenaho’s first multi-point game which included his first career goal.

Jacob Markström struggled again in net, he stopped 21-of-25. The Devils were able to get 24 shots on Vancouver’s goalie Kevin Lankinen.

Lastly, New Jersey was able to take advantage of a Vancouver penalty kill that ranks dead-last. They went 2-for-3 with the man advantage, albeit, giving up a shorthanded goal as well.

Game Notes

• Jacob Markström was not good enough again Friday night. Vancouver only generated 2.76 expected goals, but scored five. Markström’s 0.840 save percentage further signified a struggle Friday night. Luckily, he was still able to outplay Vancouver’s Kevin Lankinen.
• Cody Glass has quietly had an unbelievable season. The 26-year-old scored his 12th and 13th goals of the season. Over a full 82-game schedule, he’d be on pace for 27. He’s doing that while playing superb defense (61st percentile on-ice defensive metrics per Evolving Hockey).
• The Devils’ fourth line of Evgenii Dadonov, Paul Cotter, and Connor Brown were as bad as it gets as a trio at five-on-five. In just over seven minutes of ice time they didn’t generate a single shot, shot attempt, scoring chance, or expected goal.
• What a night it was for 21-year-old rookie Lenni Hämeenaho. The Finnish winger scored his first career goal, had his first career assist, and, as a result, posted his first multi-point game in the NHL. He also led the Devils in game score at 4.27 according to HockeyStatCards. This was one of the highest game scores in the league Friday night.

What’s Next?

The Devils are set to stay out on the West Coast and face the Seattle Kraken Sunday afternoon. Puck drop is slated for 3:00 pm ET at Climate Pledge Arena.