Dougie Hamilton returned to the Devils while most starters sat in the press box, with Sheldon Keefe looking for his playoff bottom sixers. Read on to see who did well, and who did not.
Dougie Hamilton made his return to the New Jersey Devils lineup, starting the game with his partner in Brenden Dillon. The Devils were resting most of their starters in preparation for their playoff matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes. Thus, tonight was a test for the team’s depth as they fought for remaining lineup spots. You can see the lineup below:
Now let’s get in formation. pic.twitter.com/r8lO4T0LLt
— x – New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) April 16, 2025
First Period
The Devils allowed the first big scoring chance of the game when Simon Nemec was left trying to defend a three-on-two, allowing Detroit too much space as he tried to take the far pass away. Nico Daws, however, made the stop. Dougie Hamilton later looked solid on a blueline denial, stripping the puck by the wall and moving it ahead. His breakout later, after the Devils turned it over, was a crisp long pass, through the air, right to Nate Bastian at the far blueline. The fact that it was a quick pass with a forechecker bearing down on him made it all the better, even if the Devils did not create anything out of it.
Simon Nemec took a high stick past the five-minute mark, but play continued on. Nemec picked his stick back up and continued to play defense. After the Devils exited the defensive zone, Dawson Mercer went hopping through some end-boards traffic to cycle the puck, creating a tip shot off of Mike Hardman’s stick that was stopped and frozen by Alex Lyon.
Brenden Dillon went to the box for tripping Patrick Kane on a Detroit zone entry. The penalty kill did well for the first minute, but Vladimir Tarasenko sniped the puck off the top corner of the far-side iron. Dawson Mercer could not get out to him in time, and the Red Wings took a 1-0 lead. However, the Devils challenged the goal for goaltender interference, and it was almost a terrible challenge until a zoom-in showed that J.T. Compher sticked Daws’s glove away from the shot. The goal was waved off.
Dawson Mercer cleared the puck after the following faceoff. Nico Daws made a low save to finish the penalty kill, and the game remained tied. At five-on-five, Daniel Sprong banged a shot off of Lyon, and the puck came right to Cody Glass, but Lyon made the second save as well. Glass could have placed it a bit better, but it was still a save.
After Alex Lyon made a couple of saves on Daniel Sprong, the Devils’ top line allowed a quick transition after losing the offensive zone following Sprong’s change for Hardman. Jonatan Berggen took a pass off Edvinsson’s skate and beat Nico Daws high, giving Detroit a 1-0 lead. Dennis Cholowski and Seamus Casey were not having a great time paired up together, looking rather ineffective in defending the rush, with Casey leaving his side to Erik Haula, leaving Berggren alone when Haula goes to deliver a hit on Simon Edvinsson. 1-0, Detroit.
Second Period
The teams played rather slowly for the first few minutes of the middle frame. Nico Daws made a nice save on Albert Johansson five minutes into the period on a one-timer through Nolan Foote and Brian Dumoulin. However, J.T. Compher would score soon after play resumed, rushing back into the offensive zone and banking a puck off of Daws’s shoulder and into the net. The Red Wings took a 2-0 lead.
The Devils got some relief in the form of a delayed penalty call. Daniel Sprong created a netfront scramble with a low shot, but Lyon kept it out of the net, and the Red Wings touched up at center ice. Dylan Larkin went to the box for tripping Simon Nemec. It took nearly a minute for the Devils to get a shot, with Tomas Tatar delaying for a low shot through a screen into Lyon’s glove. Dougie Hamilton and the “first unit” stayed out, but had to collect the puck by Daws for another rush up the ice after Detroit cleared. The Devils failed to get another shot on the power play, though, and remained goalless.
Dougie Hamilton took a tripping penalty on Moritz Seider with 3:30 to play in the period. This penalty kill, like the first, was rather effective against Detroit, keeping them at bay with great stick positioning in the defensive zone. After Simon Edvinsson broke his stick ona slap shot, he two-handed Cody Glass to the ice on a one-on-one, drawing a chant from the crowd. Then, they called the Devils for a too many men on the ice penalty. Seamus Casey made a bad change. On the continued penalty kill, the Devils continued to shut down passing lanes, and a late shot from DeBrincat was blocked, sending the game to the second intermission with 1:04 remaining on the kill.
Third Period
Simon Edvinsson drove Brian Dumoulin into Nico Daws and the net while driving the puck to the crease, nearly injuring Dumoulin on the iron and getting penalized for interference. The TNT crew did not like it, but I would argue that the league frowns upon driving defensemen into the goalie. The teams skated at four-on-four for seconds before Nemec took a tripping call to send the game to four-on-three for 14 seconds. Sprong then returned from the bench minor penalty to make the game four-on-four again. Play remained largely nondescript, even through the short Detroit power play. Back at five-on-five nearly three minutes into the period, though, Dylan Larkin scored while Nemec returned from the box. Detroit took a 3-0 lead.
Ben Chiarot took Marc McLaughlin down with a trip as Marc went around him in a one-on-one play. Taking out Lyon in the process, Detroit first looked to go after McLaughlin, and but hesitated and ultimately relented with the penalty already on them. The Devils went to the power play with under 10 minutes to play. Dougie Hamilton took a couple of attempts off the draw, but one was blocked, and the other went wide. The Devils retained possession for just a bit longer before Detroit took the puck and sent it the length of the ice. The Devils reset, and Dawson Mercer’s pass to Haula was disrupted and then taken away. Dougie Hamilton had trouble getting back to cover Compher, sliding into Daws in the process. The Deivls came back down the ice, though, after Daws made the save on Compher, and Daniel Sprong shot from high, banking the puck off Erik Haula into the net! The Devils made it 3-1.
The Devils did not stop fighting for offense, despite the situation. The first line went fighting around the netm and Mike Hardman was checked into the goal while knocking the puck around the net to Erik Haula. Haula slid it to his right, to Dawson Mercer, who made it a one-goal game! The score was 3-2 with over five minutes to play.
While the Devils were trying to tie the game, J.T. Compher and Cody Glass got tied up, with Compher losing his helmet and holding Glass’s stick. Both went to the box for two minutes, while 3:45 was on the clock. The home crowd was not happy. At four-on-four, the Devils tried to keep possession, and they were doing well until Dawson Mercer made a terrible pass to Dougie Hamilton on the rush, turning the puck over, leading to a rush goal for Alex DeBrincat off the entry to extend Detroit’s lead to 4-2.
Nico Daws went to the bench for the final 90 seconds of the game, and the Devils took some more shots at Alex Lyon. Marco Kasper made it 5-2 after the Devils failed to score, sealing the regular season with a home loss to Detroit.
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
Hamilton’s Return and Starter Practice
All six of the Devils’ usual starters who were on the ice today — Hamilton, Dumoulin, Dillon, Mercer, Glass, and Haula — had positive possession and expected goal numbers. Only Dawson Mercer and Erik Haula were on the ice for a five-on-five goal against. A lot of the positivity seems to tie back to Hamilton. The Devils had 30 of their 52 five-on-five attempts in the 17:03 he played in those situations, with only 22 in the 27:57 that Dougie was off the ice.
The Haula-Mercer-Hardman line took time to gel together, but they were winning most of their shifts by the end of the game. They finished with a 72.71 xGF% on eight shot attempts, and only looked poor during the backcheck on the Berggren goal. Brenden Dillon looked far more comfortable next to Hamilton than he has next to Casey, Nemec, and Cholowski over the last several weeks — and I think the time away from Dougie may prove to reinvigorate his game now that the pairing is back together.
The Bottom Six Competition
Sheldon Keefe had the pleasure of watching the entirety of his roster depth, including his upcoming Black Aces, in the lineup tonight, giving him a clear picture of who to call on and when in the playoffs. While I was hoping the competition would be a bit more…competitive, it only really served to solidify what I already saw from the team over the previous 81 games. This is how I read their games.
The Good
Daniel Sprong — Daniel had, by far, the most proactive and efficient game of any of the forwards on the ice. He had five shots in 12:45 of five-on-five ice time, putting up seven total on just 10 attempts for 0.66 generated expected goals off of shots. He created two rebounds, shot two rebounded pucks, created a few dangerous scoring chances, and gave the Devils a reason to fight with his laser of a shot right to Haula for Erik’s deflection goal. If this team is a meritocracy, Daniel Sprong will be on the third line when the Devils take the Hurricanes on for Game One.
Justin Dowling — Playing against second line competition, Justin Dowling rose to the occasion again today. Dowling was matched against the DeBrincat-Kasper-Kane line, but Dowling’s line had a nearly two-to-one expected goals ratio. His line might not be an offensive threat, but Dowling showed again today that he has the speed, energy, and defensive instincts to lead a fourth line in the playoffs. If Tatar and Bastian were to be his wingers in the playoffs, you could definitely count on them to limit scoring. They might just have the kind of chippy play that can frustrate Carolina’s scorers. The wingers at least put themselves in a position to play some games, even if they’re not in the lineup each night. Dowling, however, may have solidified that center job.
Mike Hardman — Mike Hardman was a call-up a bit out of left-field, but I liked what he did on the top line today. He is a guy who lives up to his name, looking rather solid for a guy listed at 204 pounds. For his play, he comes out of the year with an assist in the NHL, but I would even consider him at wing if someone gets hurt in the playoffs.
Nolan Foote — The long-time Devil prospect failed to score a goal for the first time in his five-season NHL career, but I felt like he played his best game tonight. He was fifth on the team in five-on-five individual expected goals, throwing three hits as he looked to get more physically involved. Perhaps someone has gotten in his ear about making more of an impression in that regard.
The Bad
Curtis Lazar — Playing the second-least even strength minutes on the team at just 9:04 at five-on-five alongside 0:42 of penalty killing time, Curtis Lazar had another rough night tonight. The Devils were outscored 2-0 with him on the ice, while outshot 5-3 and out-attempted 12-5. I wish Curtis was playing like he had been either of the first two years he was a Devil, because his play has left me not believing he deserves a starting spot in Game One of the playoffs. He is simply not as fast and energized as he used to be.
Marc McLaughlin — I had hoped that the Devils had a good reason for trading a tough, young defender in Daniil Misyul, but I am pretty disappointed with the returns so far. I do not think he has made enough of an impression to push into the playoff mix.
Kurtis MacDermid — I know Kurtis is a pure enforcer, but this is a guy who has played real NHL hockey before. He shouldn’t be skating around in circles, doing whatever, playing the least minutes in a game where the team was calling guys up from the AHL to ensure they had enough skaters to keep their starters out of the lineup. I was actually a bit annoyed at one point when it looked like he was passing on the task of covering for Seamus Casey so the young defenseman could work up front (it’s not like MacDermid was getting up to play offense), instead chasing the puck on Cholowski’s side in the neutral zone.
The Cholowski-Casey pairing — In 6:45 together, the Cholowski-Casey pairing sported an 18.75 CF% and 11.55 xGF%, getting outscored 2-0. Both played better in the few minutes they played with other defensive partners, but Simon Nemec was far more consistent. Had Casey shown his usual offensive instincts, there might have been a question, but I do not think either will be the first guys in on the defensive side during the playoffs in the case of injury. They did, however, seem to improve as the game went on.
Thank You, Readers
Well, everyone, we wrap up another Devils regular season tonight. Of my eight years of game coverage here at All About the Jersey, this has stood out as a rather unique one. The Devils did not fail to meet expectations, but they did not blow past them. They made the playoffs (and that wasn’t really ever in question all too much), but they didn’t exactly compete for the President’s Trophy. This was a season that really teetered between hopeful and frustrating, with a particularly high point in December. It’s been complicated.
But we are not done yet, and for that we can all be thankful. Dougie Hamilton is back, and he looks good. Everyone has a chance to get plenty of rest before the first game of the playoffs on Sunday or Monday. This might not be a representative game, but I think the Devils are well-positioned to show fans that they deserve more hope than doubt.
Your Thoughts
What did you think of tonight’s game? What did you think of the players competing for a playoff role? What did you think of Nico Daws? What now? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.