Introduction
Last night, the New Jersey Devils beat the New York Islanders 4-0. The team won their third straight game in the process. The Devils improve to a 7-3-2 record, which for now puts them in the first wild card spot and fourth place in the Metropolitan division. The Islanders lost their second in a row and fell to 5-4-2, which puts them in last place in the Metropolitan.
Mackenzie Blackwood recorded his seventh shutout of his career to push the Devils to the win. What else may you have missed?
Recap
First Period
Not much went down in the first period besides some stellar saves from both goaltenders. However, the Devils’ penalty kill, which had a good night, grinded and got New Jersey their first goal of the game. Janne Kuokkanen potted a second rebound into a yawning cage to put the Devils up early. A late power play for the Devils didn’t go anywhere and the period ended with New Jersey leading by one.
Second Period
The second was a period of of Islanders’ domination and then a really good couple shifts from the Devils that kept the period overall shot attempts fairly even. Late in the period though, when the Islanders were on the power play, Dawson Mercer took the puck up ice and got the Devils a power play. The Devils’ top unit had some nice puck movement that resulted in a somewhat flukey goal from Tomas Tatar. The forward recorded his first of the season off a Dougie Hamilton shot from the point that hit his skate. New Jersey killed off the final 50 seconds of the period to send them to the third with a multi-goal lead.
Third Period
This period was more Islanders’ chances and Devils counter attack featuring great saves from Mackenzie Blackwood and Ilya Sorokin. Sorokin couldn’t stop everything though, as a Dawson Mercer breakaway shot trickled over the goal line to put the Devils up by three. Following that, Dougie Hamilton scored in his return to the lineup to give the Devils’ some extra insurance. The goal after that was to keep the shutout, which was done successfully. The Devils won 4-0.
Notes
- Mackenzie Blackwood was phenomenal last night. Obviously he got the shutout, but it wasn’t an easy one. He made 42 saves and saved 3.42 goals above expected (GSAE). It’s been a good season for not just Mackenzie, but for Jonathan Bernier as well. Most Devils’ fans would probably say that they have confidence in the Devils’ goaltender tandem this season. I don’t know when the last time you could have said that was.
- Dawson Mercer’s line was electric last night, everyone on that line was all over the ice. A 53.85 CF% isn’t bad at all against a stout Islanders team. The trio also collected a 69.14 expected goals percentage (xG%). That’s very good considering overall the Islanders owned over 60% of the goal share.
- While Alexander Holtz had a decent game against the Panthers on Tuesday, he was may have been the worst player on the ice last night. He owned a team worst 21.74 CF% and 13.84 xG%. Holtz really brought down his whole line tonight at five-on-five, and he’s not scoring either. I’d say let him play out his nine games and if he doesn’t pick it up by then than send him down for at least a little bit. That way he can play in the under-20 World Junior Championships in December as well.
All Statistics are via. Naturalstattrick and Moneypuck.