The Devils ripped through the Nameless Club’s town on a mission, looking more like the playoff team they’re supposed to be.
First Period
The New Jersey Devils and Utah Hockey Club played largely crisp hockey for the first several minutes of the game, but neither side could generate a very dangerous scoring chance. The Devils seemed to be the more energized team to me, but Utah stayed in good enough position defensively to keep Karel Vejmelka safe in net. With Mercer and Lazar getting shots on goal, the Devils looked to continue generating chances while not spending very much time in the defensive zone.
Jack Hughes eventually lost an edge and the puck, going awkwardly into the boards by the benches, and Utah went off to the races. Logan Cooley’s shot was saved by Nico Daws while Dougie Hamilton locked the passing lane down. Then, the Devils’ fourth line, led by Tomas Tatar, did great work to gain and keep the offensive zone about nine minutes or so into the game. Tatar stayed on to cycle the puck with Kovacevic and Hughes as Nico Hischier came onto the ice. Tatar knocked a rebound back out to Hischier, and Hischier played it up to Luke Hughes. Hughes spun out Nick Bjugstad at the blueline and shot low on goal — and Nico Hischier batted it into the net! The Devils took a 1-0 lead just nine and a half minutes into the game.
Simon Nemec had a bad turnover from the corner in the defensive zone just a minute or so later, but Brenden Dillon shut down a chance for Logan Cooley in front. Ondrej Palat later drew a holding penalty from Logan Cooley in the neutral zone after Nemec gave Palat the puck to start an offensive push after Jack Hughes blocked a point shot. The power play struggled to connect on puck movement earlyu on, leading to a couple clearances for Utah, leading to early changes onto the ice for Meier and Luke Hughes. However, the second unit struggled to retain the puck as well, leading to a futile two minutes.
Liam O’Brien and Brenden Dillon dropped the gloves with each other after the power play ended, following a defensive zone exit from Nemec and Cotter. The fight was not spectacular, but O’Brien did his work to pump his crowd up with a takedown on Dillon. A minute after play resumed, Timo Meier, off a feed from Mercer, was denied on a breakaway by Vejmelka. nate Bastian, too, poked a puck out for a breakaway, but was also stopped.
With 1:48 to play, Tomas Tatar was put in the penalty box for holding. The Devils played very well on the penalty kill, not allowing a single shot on goal by Utah in the 1:48 they had to kill. This capped off a good start to the game, as special teams remained even early on.
Second Period
Carrying just 12 seconds of penalty kill time over into the second period, the Devils were able to get the Hischier line out onto the ice quickly. They established the offensive zone again for the Devils, and Timo Meier wrapped around to his backhand but banked the puck off the post with Palat in front. The Hughes line continued to pressure until the puck bounced over Bratt’s stick from Hamilton. The Devils weren’t long in the defensive zone, though, pushing right back up to continue the pressure on Utah.
Dylan Guenther nailed a shot right off the inside of the post with a slap shot about seven and a half minutes into the period, drawing a good rise from the Utah crowd. Ondrej Palat later had a couple shots at the puck right in the crease, as Vejmelka was knocked into a bit by a teammate as he saved a point shot from Jack Hughes, leaving the rebound right there. Simon Nemec made a great defnesive play on Cooley in the neutral zone awhile later, preventing Utah from having a one-on-one or breakaway on Daws. Utah continued to push, though. and Mikhail Sergachev one-timed a pass from O’Brien past Daws, tying the game just three seconds past the halfway point.
The Devils drew a power play with under five minutes to play in the period, with Ian Cole going to the box for tripping Brenden Dillon. The Devils again struggled to get going ont he power play, but Dougie Hamilton found Hughes with space and began the cycle. This looked good until John Marino (who I thought looked a lot more responsible for his new team) stripped the puck away from Jack Hughes, ending the first unit’s time on the ice. Luke Hughes went back to take the puck in the defensive zone and was hit in the upper-midsection — he immediately went to the bench holding under his shoulder. Paul Cotter was spun around by Mikhail Sergachev in the offensive zone, but the referees swallowed their whistles.
Third Period
Thankfully, Luke Hughes returned for the third period. Continuing that fortunate trend, Timo Meier scored quickly to start the third period, delivering a huge boost for the Devils and himself as he put his team up a goal. Picking a corner on Vejmelka, Timo took a feed from Dawson Mercer and put the Devils right up to start the period.
After falling back down, Utah did their best to push back against the Devils. However, Daws and the Devils survived the initial pushback from Utah. As the minutes went on, the Devils began to spend less time in the defensive zone, pinning Utah back at times but falling just short of scoring. Jack Hughes had the best chance for them, taking a feed from his brother as they raced up the ice. Jack went around the net for a wraparound, almost beating Vejmelka, but missing his target. Bratt turned the rebound over before Luke could pull the puck to himself for a shot, and the chance ended there.
Continuing the theme of snakebitten guys getting goals, Jack Hughes again stayed on the ice past the halfway point of the period to give the fourth line an offensive zone shift. As Bastian shifted down to the goal line, Jack went to take the puck across from the boards to the middle of the ice, but he lost the handle — and the puck went right to Curtis Lazar, who scored his first goal since November! The Devils went up 3-1 with a much-needed insurance goal.
Nico Daws did not want to give the Nameless life. He read a one-timer developing for Dylan Guenther by the side of the net, following the pass and dramatically gloving the shot with around six minutes to play. The Devils still did not relent, not content to sit back in the defensive zone in the waning minutes of the game. Daws did make a couple nice saves following an icing with three minutes to play to keep the lead, and the Devils pushed Utah back again before Vejmelka tried to come off with two and a half minutes to plauy. He returned to the goal before getting off the ice with two minutes remaining — and Dougie Hamilton chipped their zone entry right out of the zone. Unfortunately, Jack Hughes took a tripping penalty on Logan Cooley, going to the box with 1:48 to kill.
Hischier, Mercer, Kovaecvic, and Hughes started for the Devils, and they got the puck right down the ice. Utah tried to set upa couple times, but they had trouble getting shots on goal. The Devils were doing a great job of making it impossible to get shots all the way through to Daws, and Nico Hischier sent the puck to the other end one last time with 15 seconds or so remaining, sealing the 3-1 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
Daws On Fire
Since joining the big club this year, Nico Daws has been just short of perfect for the New Jersey Devils. sporting a 3-0-0 record in five appearances with a .966 save percentage and 0.88 goals against average. With Jacob Markstrom returning soon, I would not be surprised to see Daws get the last game back before Markstrom is in the starter’s net again. With Allen likely to go against Vegas, that could put Daws in line for a test against Dallas or Winnipeg.
Daws is under no pressure to be the guy right now, but it is very nice to know that he is looking like his better self for the Devils this season. Daws is a goalie that has struggled with consistency, possibly due to the difficulty of playing behind the Utica Comets defense at times over the past couple years. When Daws has decent defensive support, he makes the saves necessary to keep his team in the game or win outright. Tonight, he came very, very close to a second career shutout.
Timo and Lazar
Tonight’s game should get the monkey off of Timo Meier’s back for the time being, and fans can give him a bit of a rest, too. Now at 16 goals in 60 games, Timo has about a quarter of the season remaining to go on a tear to make his season look normal by his standards. With such a long goal-scoring slump, those numbers are low for him, but I would look for Meier to go on a real run for the Devils here.
It was also very nice to see Curtis Lazar get back on the board. After being healthy scratched for a few nights, I was beginning to worry whether Lazar would even be on the team by playoff time. Justin Dowling was not exactly an upgrade over him, but Lazar has been an offensive black hole this season, and Lazar was struggling to make as much of a forechecking impact as the team was used to. That changed tonight. With the help of Tatar, Bastian, and Hughes, Lazar got himself into good areas against Utah and delivered the insurance during an energy shift. If the bottom six could do this more, the Devils would be thrilled.
Good Start to the Weekend
While I am sure some fans were worried the Columbus Blue Jackets would catch the Devils soon — Columbus beat Detroit to reach 68 points, overtaking the Wings for the eighth playoff spot in the East — tonight’s win put New Jersey back into a tie for second place in the Metropolitan Division, with Carolina possessing a game in hand. I will take it, being a couple points from being able to stake a claim for second place, while having a six-point cushion over the mediocre ninth-place Red Wings.
Vegas will be tough, and Jake Allen has his work cut out for him. But getting at least another point in the back-to-back would turn this weekend from decency to an outright success. A win, though, would be a huge confidence boost. I have no idea how much the team looks at standings — hopefully not as much as fans do. But it is true that they needed to start getting more wins.
I loved the way they played Utah. The team had a very nice attack, and aside from a mid-game lull, the game was pretty crisp with a good defensive roundness on the Devils’ part. I believe they might even be energized enough to bring this effort a couple hours over to Vegas. Considering how much of the game the Devils spent protecting a lead against Utah, I was impressed not only by how they survived those post-goal Utah pushes, but how quickly they regained the lead after losing it and suffering a bit in the second period. Seeing Luke on the bench, followed by the quick goal was a huge boost to my mood, and I’m sure the team feels great. On top of the win, they had a young goalie show out once more, alongside the Captain’s 400th career point and the returns of Timo Meier and Curtis Lazar to the scoresheet as goal scorers. A lot happened tonight, and just about everything that could go right did.
Your Thoughts
I hope all of you feel good about that one, too. What did you think of the game? Were you able to watch? What caught your eye about the effort? Who had the best under-the-radar game? What did you think of Nico’s goal, and the other Nico’s performance in net? What about that Timo guy? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.