“I’m really lucky to be a Devil” -Jack Hughes
In the leadup to the game between the New Jersey Devils and New York Rangers this afternoon, the Rangers had a surprise announcement: Chris Kreider was healthy scratched. For a team starving for leadership after trading their captain in Jacob Trouba and one of their better forwards in Kaapo Kakko, this was a very interesting move. Sure, they might have been looking for a spark, but Laviolette has not had his finger on the pulse of the team this season.
First Period
The Devils, after an early shot attempt against that went off the side of the net, controlled the next few shifts before being called for an icing. Before that icing, Timo Meier and Ondrej Palat both got good shots on net, but were stopped by Johnathan Quick. After a shift for the Rangers’ top line following that icing, Vincent Trocheck dropped the gloves with Paul Cotter after Cotter took an issue with Trocheck in the corner. Cotter had the advantage with his size, and both sat for five minutes.
With Jack Hughes lurking for a takeaway, the Rangers turned the puck over to Jesper Bratt in the neutral zone. Bratt slipped the puck left to Hughes, who beat Quick under the blocker! The Devils took a 1-0 lead right off the fight from Cotter.
Mika Zibanejad was taken down in the Rangers’ offensive zone following the goal, and both teams went at it, with Quick coming out to center ice to yell at Stefan Noesen during the scrum. Noesen and Meier went to the box for the Devils, while Artemi Panarin went off for the Rangers. The Rangers had a two-minute power play out of it — but without their best player.
Witht the faceoff in the neutral zone, the Rangers circled back to enter the offensive zone, with Alexis Lafreniere being denied by the stick of Nico Hischier as he approached the goal. The Devils cleared the puck down the ice shortly after, and Jack Huhes and Bratt had a two-on-two rush on the following shift that was disturbed by Adam Fox’s stick. The second unit struggled for the Rangers, and Kovacevic finished the penalty off with one last clear.
Dawson Mercer tried to deflect a Dougie Hamilton shot, but blocked it — and his backhand was stopped by Quick. Jesper Bratt later threw a huge check on Urho Vaakanainen, leading to a lengthy shift for the Hughes line in the offensive zone, though their shots did not end up reaching the net. Vaakanainen, of course, was the player acquired for Jacob Trouba. Late in the period, Nathan Bastian deflected a pass at the point and gave himself a partial breakaway. His shot was not stopped cleanly, but just glanced off Quick’s stick and into the netting — a very good shot from Bastian, especially with the fishbowl on.
After an argument between Adam Fox and Nico Hischier at center ice, Brenden Dillon dropped the gloves with Sam Carrick, with both players throwing heavy hands at each other in the final minute of the period. Dillon did a good job of avoiding Carrick’s shots, given his reach advantage.
Second Period
Jacob Markstrom came out of the crease to poke a puck away fromm Tobias Edstrom after Luke Hughes was tripped up a bit, and Dawson Mercer took a minor penalty for cross-checking Urho Vaakanainen seconds later. The Devils won the draw and cleared the zone, forcing the Rangers to tag up. Later, Alexis Lafreniere left his feet trying to throw a hit during a standstill battle in the corner, but he just missed Siegenthaler’s head. Jacob Markstrom made a couple good saves late when Dougie Hamilton made a bad read, and the Rangers could not capitalize on the chaos that followed. The Rangers were then called for too many men on the ice.
On the power play, the Devils had plenty of chances in the first minute, but could not find the open net that Johnathan Quick was leaving them. Luke Hughes had a puck skip over his stick at the blueline, forcing the Devils to circle back in the final 20 seconds of the power play. Dawson Mercer shielded the puck and backhanded it through the middle to Timo Meier — and Meier hit the one-timer to make it a 2-0 game!
Back at it, Jonas Siegenthaler threw a hard hit at Alexis Lafreniere in the corner, cross-checking him after. As Kovacevic joined the fray, play was blown dead, with both Siegenthaler and Kovacevic going to the box with Lafreniere. The Rangers got a power play out of it, with Kovacevic getting the extra penalty for bumping Lafreniere after the whistle.
On the penalty kill, the Devils cleared the puck early, sending the first Rangers power play unit back twice in the first minute. Jacob Markstrom made a couple saves on their third possession in, and Jesper Bratt cleared the puck from the crease when Markstrom lost track of it before Panarin could knock it in. The Devils killed this penalty with ease despite not having their best penalty killers.
When Dougie Hamilton was tripped up in the neutral zone, he was called for unsportsmanlike conduct for embellishment, ending an odd-man rush for the Devils. Nico Hischier was kicked from the following draw, and the Rangers possessed in their defensive zone. Nico Hischier had a chance on a rush and dipped around Adam Fox to set up a shot from the slot for Luke Hughes, but Quick made the stop. Jesper Bratt was then raising his arms to point out a Rangers too many men — and they got the call.
Luke Hughes had to skate back to collect the puck at four-on-three when Jack lost it attakcing the net, and he missed another pass from Bratt to force them to tag up. Bratt worked the puck low to Luke, and he found his brother on the far side. Jack shot from below the dot and beat Quick! The Devils had their second power play goal of the game to make it 3-0.
After a chance for Stefan Noesen was stopped on a redirection, the Devils had too many men on the ice. The Rangers went to the power ply with 3:32 left in the second period. The Devils were great again on the penalty kill, possessing the puck more than the Rangers. Dawson Mercer, in particular, spun off three hits behind the Rangers’ net to waste some time before losing the puck. Then, after Haula found Noesen for a backhand redirection that went off the blocker, Mika Zibanejad took a spill when he ran into traffic at the blueline, and the penalty was killed.
Third Period
Nico Hischier blocked a shot at the end of his shift to start the third, and he missed the faceoff after the icing that followed, drawing the ire of the Rangers bench. A couple minutes later, Jimmy Vesey missed the net on a chance right by Markstrom when he was all alone in front. Artemi Panarin then ripped a shot, but it was deflected high by Timo Meier.
The Hischier line finally struck on a masterful rush on Quick. Timo Meier went to the goal line and passed off to Nico Hischier, who faked out Quick and found the perfect seam to Stefan Noesen, who slapped it into the net! The Devils took a 4-0 lead, and Quick was just able to close the five hole on Mercer when play resumed to keep the score there.
Alexis Lafreniere was sent to the box for slashing Jonas Siegenthaler’s stick out of his hands with 8:14 to play. The second unit had some bad stick-luck, and Cotter was cross-checked into the net, but they stayed on with Jack Hughes on the ice. Off a feed from Jack Hughes, Dawson Mercer deflected the puck into the air and double-tipped it in front of Quick, making it a 5-0 game!
The Rangers went back to the penalty kill when Artemi Panarin was called for slashing Nate Bastian with 4:06 to play. The fourth line stayed on the for the power play. They were unable to capitalize and were followed by the second unit. The clock wound down without much push from either side, securing the 5-0 victory.
The Game Stats: The NHL.com Game Summary | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play by Play Log | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick Game Stats
Best Defensive Stretch in NHL History?
The New Jersey Devils were a dumpster fire in the defensive end last year. Well, now the Devils have the best shot suppression streak in the Expansion Era of the NHL, with now seven games under 20 shots allowed. This is certainly the best defensive team I have ever watched. According to Natural Stat Trick, the Rangers had 3.08 expected goals from their shot attempts, but only 12 of those attempts made their way to Jacob Markstrom. Even when the team had Dillon, Kovacevic, or Siegenthaler in the box, the Rangers had nothing on them.
What Real First Overall Picks Look Like
Three first overall picks were on the ice today — Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes, and Alexis Lafreniere. While Lafreniere was trying to throw flying elbows at Jonas Siegenthaler’s head, Nico and Jack were creating and scoring goals. In total, the Devils had five players with multi-point games: Jack Hughes (3), Dawson Mercer, Jesper Bratt, Luke Hughes, and Timo Meier. Of course, Dawson Mercer was taken in the same draft as Lafreniere at 18th overall. Now up to 8 goals and 10 assists on the season, he has 149 points in 283 career games. Alexis Lafreniere has 169 points in 331 games. Since the Devils played the Rangers on December 2, Lafreniere has 4 points in 11 games. That’s great stuff for a top pick on a team that has been spiraling for in the absence of their now-former captain.
By his own words, Jack Hughes loves being a Devil. Him and Nico Hischier are looking more and more like the best center duo in the NHL, rivaled only by McDavid and Draisaitl. They dominate the puck, they score goals, they kill penalties. The Devils could not have asked for a better duo to lead their franchise.
Back to Back Shutouts
Jacob Markstrom now has back-to-back shutouts, and he is the first Devils goalie to pull this off since Mackenzie Blackwood in 2020. Markstrom might not have to stop a lot of rubber for this team — at least not recently — but his puck handling, his ten-bell save ability, and his composure does a lot to back up that defense. Markstrom also has three shutouts in a season for the third time in his career, also for the first time since 2021-22 with Calgary, when he had nine.
Rudderless Ships and Bad Leaders
On December 2, I wrote the recap for the 5-1 Devils victory over the Rangers, asking at the end of the article, “how long does Laviolette have left?” Well, back then, the Rangers had a captain. The Rangers got 40 shots on Jacob Markstrom that night. Since that game, Laviolette scratched Trouba, leading to Drury trading him to Anaheim as they threatened to bypass his no-trade clause by waiving him to a team on his no-trade list. Just two weeks later, Laviolette scratched Kaapo Kakko, leading to Kakko ripping the coaching staff for not punishing the “worst offenders,” which resulted in Kakko’s trade to Seattle. Now, Peter Laviolette decided to scratch his longest-tenured Ranger, Chris Kreider, leading to this: a 12-shot shutout.
Laviolette is a one or two-year coach. He has good teams for short periods of time, but he’s easy to figure out (i.e. just block the point and perimeter shots) and his teams never sustain the same level of play the longer he coaches them. Without Chris Kreider to score power play goals, they looked lost there tonight, and Laviolette does not run a good enough five-on-five team to compensate for it. If the Islanders and Blue Jackets win tonight, the Rangers will be in last place in the division.
Good Times and Holiday Cheer
Enough about the Rangers, though. The Devils are now 23-11-3, and many Devils are rolling. Bratt and Hughes have 45 points, each, while Hischier, Meier, and Noesen have been scoring left-and-right this season. Dawson Mercer is beginning to look more like he is combining his offensive and defensive abilities to become a complete player. The defense is impeccable. The bottom six is hounding the puck on every shift, giving no ice to opponents. From top to bottom, this Devils team is as perfectly constructed as they can be at this point of the year, and they show no signs of stopping anytime soon.
I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday and Christmastime. The Devils have certainly done their part.
Your Thoughts
What did you think about today’s game? Did you attend or watch from home? How satisfied do you feel? Have the Devils left you feeling good for the holidays? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.