The Devils’ star came back from the break struggling to get assists once more, but he fired away once paired up with Nico Hischier. It was too late, though.
First Period
In his return to the team, Nico Hischier centered Timo Meier and Stefan Noesen. Back from an oblique injury, Hischier was set to give his team a boost after the Four Nations Face-Off break. After a couple minutes of back-and-forth neutral zone hockey, Johnny Kovacevic passed ahead to Nate Bastian for a rush chance. Casey DeSmith squeezed his arm tight to freeze play. The Devils were then able to get a couple of offensive zone faceoff for Hughes and Hischier. The next chance came on a high shot from Ondrej Palat, which was blockered away after Hughes set him up. Jake Allen would not be so lucky on the other end, as Simon Nemec was in no-man’s land as Evgenii Dadonov had two whacks at the puck right in front of Allen. The Dallas Stars took a quick 1-0 lead.
The Devils went to the penalty kill for Brenden Dillon going at Lian Bischel when he hit Dougie Hamilton after an offsides whistle. Ken Daneyko was up in arms over the call. Wyatt Johnston knocked Nico Hischier off a draw, who didn’t get out to the point as a result, and Jake Allen let in a goal from the high slot. 2-0, Dallas, with Thomas Harley getting the marker.
Jesper Bratt backhanded a perfect feed for Ondrej Palat, but Palat shot it off the blocker. That would have been a nice moment to get closer in the game. Thomas Harley later tripped Jesper Bratt as Bratt went around the net, and the Devils went to the power play. The first unit of the power play had some good movement and chances, but Stefan Noesen just missed a puck by the net that would have given them a goal. Against the second unit, DeSmith poked a Dawson Mercer toe drag away and stopped a Timo Meier one-timer.
The Devils tilted the ice pretty well in the several minutes following their power play. However, Casey DeSmith made 12 stops in the period, stopping about 1.23 expected goals. Still, the Devils had yet to get chances at even strength for their best scorers, so they still had room to improve going into the second period.
Second Period
The Devils came out strong for the early shifts of the second period, though Jake Allen was tested two and a half minutes in, with Mikael Granlund getting a big chance in front that was denied. The third line then got hemmed in, with Luke Hughes clearing the puck at one point but not getting it far enough down the ice for the fowards to be willing to go to the bench. The third line and the Hughes-Nemec pairing was on for two and a half minutes by the time Allen froze a point slap shot.
After the Devils got a change, they pushed back into the offensive zone for a faceoff. Giving the fourth line an offensive zone draw, Curtis Lazar won the puck back to Luke Hughes just 30 game-time seconds after his long shift ended, and Hughes took a few of shots at the goal as he zipped around the offensive zone, but he was a bit off, trying was trying to hit the corners.
Nico Hischier got his stick up on Oskar Back, drawing blood and a four-minute penalty about seven and a hafl minutes into the period. The Devils did well early in the kill, clearing the puck down the ice a few times. Luke Hughes made an appearance on the penalty kill with his brother and Bratt on the ice, clearing the puck after picking it from the boards. Curtis Lazar blocked a Thomas Harley shot and tried to break away for a chance, but Harley reached around enough to prevent a shot. Jake Allen made his first save of the kill with just 20 seconds to go on Evgenii Dadonov, who had a dangerous chance at the side of the net.
Nico Hischier came out of the box, and the Prudential Center crowd chanted as the Devils worked the puck into the offensive zone — but Jack Hughes lost the puck after coming ont the ice, forcing the Deivls to regroup. Hughes set up Brett Pesce for a one-timer in the circle, which was stopped. Pesce knocked the puck through the middle to set Meier up for a second chance on the other side of goal, but DeSmith stopped it again.
Timo Meier was spun down as he kicked the puck to himself to get a short rush on goal. He went into the net, but the Devils kept possession as they got an extra attacker on. After the puck was touched up, Cody Ceci listed over to the box, not even arguing the call, as he got his money’s worth on the hook.
Sheldon Keefe sent out the team’s first unit to start the power play. Hischier won the puck back, and Dougie Hamilton fired a wide-open chance from the circle off DeSmith’s glove. The Devils kept possession through a few more draws, as the Devils continued to test DeSmith. The Stars finally won a draw 30 seconds into the penalty, and the Devils rushed up the ice without issue. The Devils had a couple shots, fcing the puck intot he corner so the Stars could not clear. Hamilton had one more chance and fired it wide, allowing the Stars to kill the rest of the penalty, as the Devils lost the offensive zone.
Third Period
Jack Hughes forced his way into the slot right off the draw, but Casey DeSmith padded a shot away and covered the loose puck. Off the draw, Dougie Hamilton nailed the far iron with a low shot above the pad. The Devils kept possession, and Jack Hughes had a chance coming down the left side that went off the side of the net.
Near the six-minute mark, Luke Hughes and Simon Nemec fought off a two-on-two, but Dawson Mercer was weak against Matt Duchene as the third ones into the fray, with Duchene getting a free backhand as he waltzed across Allen — but Allen made the stop. After a TV timeout around eight minutes in, Hughes and Bratt winged Hischier as the Devils had a great offensive zone shift that ended with a loose puck just beyond the crease, which was cleared away to Wyatt Johnston. Dougie Hamilton, skating back, deflected the puck a bit with his skate, allowing him to chop at Johnston’s stick during the shot, which Allen saved.
Back in the offensive zone, the Devils again pressured DeSmith with a chance by the crease. Timo Meier tried jamming it into the net, but he fell down as the puck slipped away, drawing a holding call. Nico deflected a puck through his legs early, but DeSmith stopped it. The Devils had some beautiful puck movement after regaining the offensive zone, and Dougie Hamilton faked shot from the slot to set up a one-timer goal for Jack Hughes! The Devils made it a 2-1 game with over 10 minutes to go in the period!
Matt Duchene made it a 3-1 game after Jake Allen came from behind the net, not playing the puck away as he allowed Pesce to come to it for a reversal. The Devils turned the puck over, and Duchene had a shot from the high slot that beat Allen low, below the blocker. All three forwards were in the neutral zone during the failed breakout.
The Hughes-Hischier-Bratt line came right back. Looking like they were playing with anger — definitely a purpose — the Devils got into the zone with Hughes speeding to the net and trying to cut across. He waited out wide for the puck, and Bratt found him for a shot that rang off the iron and in! The Devils made it 3-2 with over eight minutes to play.
Back on the ice again, Jack Hughes worked from behind goal as Dougie Hamilton was calling for a pass at the point. His lane to Dougie was cut off, and Hughes went to the other side of the net to open up a pass to Bratt in front. Bratt whacked twice, but DeSmith held the lead for Dallas. On the other end, Jake Allen made two big stops with the help of Nico Hischier, who made sure the loose puck didn’t get away from his pad, allowing him to freeze it.
After a beautiful breakup on Granlund by Luke Hughes, Jack was sprung aheaed for a rush chance that was blocked by Ceci. Cotter had the puck behind the net, and Hamilton pinched in for a low one-timer that was stopped and frozen. To cap off an adventurous shift for the third line, Ondrej Palat hesitated with an open chance and had to go to a wide backhand, banking it off the side of the net.
The Hischier line came on with just over two minutes to play for the next faceoff. They were forced to change off after playing too much in the defensivre zone, and the second line came onto the ice for a short bit before Hughes came back on. Hughes flipped the puck into the bench, and the Devils called timeout. Pulling the goalie, Noesen tried to set up Nico Hischier in front of the net. Hischier went wide, but he got high sticked by Ilya Lyubushkin. The Devils went to the power play for 44.0 seconds. Timo Meier served as the sixth man for the power play. Hischier won the draw, and the Devils set up. Dougie Hamilton [played it to Bratt and then shot, but the Stars cleared the puck off the rebound. Timo Meier lost the puck at the point, and Wyatt Johnston scored an empty netter. 4-2, Stars.
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
Wasting Time With Ondrej Palat
The New Jersey Devils could have — I think would have — won this game if Sheldon Keefe lined his guys up the way he had them in the third period. Those lines were:
Bratt-Hischier-Hughes
Meier-Mercer-Noesen
Palat-Haula-Cotter
In 7:43 with Ondrej Palat on the wing of Jack Hughes, the Devils had 20 shot attempts, seven shots on goal, eight scoring chances, four of the high-danger variety, and 0.63 expected goals. They got outscored.
The Devils did not score until Hughes shifted to first-line wing with Nico Hischier in the middle. Now, do I think Nico looked good tonight? I do not. In fact, he had a chance to tie the game, but he was not his usual self tonight. But controlling the puck all the time only does the Devils good if guys like Jack Hughes are taking the shots, hence the Hughes line being unproductive with Palat on the wing. Palat found himself open numerous times, and was even hesitating to shoot with open corners to pick in the third period, turning a perfect chance into a missed backhand shot from below the goal line.
And whose bad defensive play was it that killed the team on the Duchene goal? Ondrej Palat, who skated over to the bench as the Devils held the puck behind the net, but came back into the defensive zone too late to interrupt the pass to Duchene? None other than Palat. Whether that was supposed to be a change, or Palat just not reading how heavy the forecheck was (either would be very bad for a veteran of his experience), it put the game out of reach. Not everyone can be waiting around doing nothing in the neutral zone with three Stars waiting to pounce on two Devils defensemen.
You would especially think the forwards might support a bit more with Allen waiting for the puck to reach him behind the net, but defense was an afterthought to a line whose very purpose in this situation was to give Hischier’s line 20-30 seconds of rest.
Do Something About It
The trade deadline is looming. We’re not far out anymore.
The Devils just played a strong game against a Stanley Cup contender. They could have easily won this game if they had Jacob Markstrom or Jonas Siegenthaler (especially the latter, whose presence would have preempted the first goal even being possible). They also could win a game like this with another goal-scorer who can pick up where Jack leaves off.
Nico is going to pick it back up — his first games back are usually a bit wonky. Bratt will have his moments. Dougie won’t always miss on 15 shot attempts with multiple posts. Timo Meier needs to step up and keep playing close to the net. But it’s simply not enough. When an opponent knows they can let a Devils top six winger have free reign on the ice and probably not have to suffer for it, the Devils are going to keep having nights where they load up on chances and pump up those expected goals numbers only to fall short, being “goalied” or whatever. Just remember: once Jack started shooting, the Devils started scoring.
Your Thoughts
What did you think of tonight’s game? How disappointing was the result to you? Did you stick through it all the way? Or did you just check your phone to see the score and think, oh, yes, they almost came back again? What needs to change? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.