NEWARK, NJ – Making progress is key for the New Jersey Devils early on in this season. After falling to the talented rosters of the Winnipeg Jets, Nashville Predators, and Washington Capitals, the Devils lost their fourth consecutive game of the regular season on Friday night against the Peter DeBoer-led San Jose Sharks 2-1 in the shootout.
During Pete DeBoer’s tenure in New Jersey, the Devils were 16-30 in shootouts. With tonight’s shootout victory for San Jose, he is now 1-0 with the Sharks.
“The irony of us winning a shootout in this building isn’t lost on me.” DeBoer said.
Despite the loss, they earned their first point of the regular season under head coach John Hynes. Coach Hynes believes Friday’s shootout loss is a step in the right direction for the Devils.
“Is it good enough, yet? No. Is it a step in the right direction? Yes.” Hynes said.
San Jose goaltender Martin Jones ended his shutout streak of 234 minutes after Adam Henrique tied tonight’s game on the power play with 3:38 remaining in the 3rd period. He tipped in a rapid shot on goal from the left point by Damon Severson. Henrique would go on to score the lone tally in the shootout for New Jersey. Mike Cammalleri and Jacob Josefson were unable to get their shots behind Martin Jones in the shootout while Joe Pavelski and Brent Burns each scored on Cory Schneider.
“We’re close, but it’s still not enough,” Henrique said, “We’ve still got to find a way to get a little more. So, it’s coming. The effort was there tonight, I thought, throughout the game. We’ve just got to find a way to get that first one.”
Cory Schneider made 33 saves in 65 minutes for the now 0-3-1 New Jersey Devils and Martin Jones, who earned third-star honors on Friday night, stopped 32 shots on goal in 65 minutes.
Key Stats of the Game:
- The Devils finished 1-for-6 on the power play on Friday, with one goal coming from Adam Henrique in the third period.
- The top defensive pairing for New Jersey, Andy Greene and Adam Larsson, played 25:09 and 24:05 on the ice respectively. They had the most ice time out of all skaters ahead of Adam Henrique (23:49), Mike Cammalleri (23:13), and Lee Stempniak (21:29).
- Cory Schneider denied Sharks forward Patrick Marleau from having his second tally of the game on Friday night on a penalty shot. Schneider is now 9-for-11 in his career for penalty shots.
- The San Jose Sharks are 15/16 on the penalty kill thus far during the 2015-16 season. They’ve given up just one power play goal all year.
The Devils will travel to New York City tomorrow afternoon when they conclude their 12:00 PM practice at Prudential Center. They will face off against our rivals from across the Hudson River, the New York Rangers, at 1:00 PM on Sunday at Madison Square Garden. Be sure to keep your eye on our website and our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages for all of the latest updates.
Credits to Mike Morreale and Tom Gulitti for the quotes and statistics.
Nick Papadimas is a New Jersey native, New Jersey Devils season ticket holder, and avid hockey fan. He is an aspiring sports journalist who has covered high school sports and local events for TAPinto.net since 2012. Nick can be reached on Twitter (@ngpaps) or by e-mail at papadimasn@icloud.com.