Resiliency Shines Through as Devils Douse Hurricanes By Matt Blittner, The New York Extra/TheNYExtra.com
Rebuilding in the NHL is never easy. Luck is as big a factor as any. And while the NHL is known as a league where any team can win on any given night, usually, the better team finds a way to get two points. But that’s not a rule.
Saturday night in Newark, New Jersey, the then last-place Devils hosted the at the time Metropolitan Division-leading Carolina Hurricanes. With Carolina on the back-half of a back-to-back set it was an opportunity for the Devils to try and take advantage of a weary team. Thanks to the progress this young Devils team has made, they were able to down the Hurricanes 7-4.
“With a young group it’s important to stay positive,” Nathan Bastian said after the game.
“It feels good…feels great,” added Nico Hischier. “An all around team effort.”
Now that the game is in the books let’s see where the Devils measured up and where they didn’t.
1) In a battle of back-up netminders – Jack LaFontaine for Carolina and Jon Gillies for New Jersey – it was the Hurricanes who reigned supreme early on; but not later. In the first 5:44 of the opening period Gillies allowed two-goals from distance while LaFontaine kept the Devils off the board.
Andrei Svechnikov got the party started for the visitors just 2:20 into the game when he wired a shot from the outside hash marks of the far side faceoff circle past Gillies.
Ian Cole followed up 3:24 later by sending a blast from the slot past Gillies seconds after Vincent Trocheck rang the puck off the post.
Both were excellent shots. However, even Gillies would admit he needs to make those saves; especially early in the game.
“I think he would want a few goals back,” said Head Coach Lindy Ruff. “But he did give us some good saves (later on).”
LaFontaine ran into issues of his own later in the first period and throughout the second period. Meanwhile, Gillies ended up steadying himself to the point where he was a difference-maker in the third period.
2) Resiliency is a good trait to develop. With 2:34 remaining in the first period and the Devils down 2-0, Nathan Bastian stepped up and took advantage of a fluky bounce to bring the Devils within 2-1. Late period goals can often lead to momentum shifts and New Jersey definitely got that.
1:40 after Bastian’s goal got the Devils on the board he parked himself in front of Carolina’s net looking for another. Ryan Graves fired a shot towards the net and Bastian tipped it past Jack LaFontaine for the game-tying goal. Consider the momentum officially shifted.
In the second period this trait showed itself again as Michael McLeod scored 5:22 after Josh Leivo put the Hurricanes back in front, to re-tie the game. And just 2:29 after McLeod’s tying goal, Andreas Johnsson scored from the slot to give the Devils their first lead of the game, 4-3.
The Devils’ resiliency decided to do an encore performance at the end of the second period when Jesper Bratt cleaned up the bouncing puck and sniped it past LaFontaine 2:45 after Brady Skeji knotted the score at 4-4. Thanks to Bratt, the Devils went into the third period up 5-4.
3) New Jersey’s special teams were a net positive in this one. The Devils were unable to generate even a single shot on goal during their second period power-play. But they were able to score on their third period power-play; courtesy of Jack Hughes, who’s tally gave the Devils a 6-4 lead. In addition, they were able to prevent Carolina from scoring on their power-play during the middle period.
4) One thing a young team like New Jersey needs to learn is how to play with a lead. With just 4:26 remaining in the second period and a 4-3 lead, the Devils gave up the tying-goal to Brady Skjei a mere 4:18 after they originally took the lead. Giving back goals has been a recurring issue for the Devils all year long. However, the Devils were able to keep this issue under wraps during the third period.
“It’s still a learning process,” said Hischier. “The biggest thing with a lead is to not sit back.”
5) Turnovers continue to be an issue for the Devils as they gave the puck away 22 times and only managed to take it away from Carolina five times. That type of negative ratio doesn’t normally lend itself to victories.
6) With Gillies holding the Hurricanes in check during the third period the Devils were able to tack on to their lead to put some distance between themselves and Carolina. First came Jack Hughes’ power-play goal at the 12:51 mark of the final period. And 1:04 after Hughes scored Pavel Zacha put the game out of reach with his 10th goal of the season. 7-4 Devils.
A touchdown and the extra point for New Jersey was a nice way to help Devils’ netminder Jon Gillies celebrate his 28th birthday. And it was his first win as a Devil too boot.
Plus, as Andreas Johnsson put it, “it’s a huge confidence boost (for the team).”
GAME NOTES
New Jersey’s power-play went 1-for-2 on the night while the penalty-kill went 2-for-2…Nico Hischier led all Devils forwards in ice time at 18:13…Damon Severson led all New Jersey defensemen in ice time at 26:34…The Devils celebrated Pride Night at Prudential Center…Jon Gillies recorded his first win as a member of the Devils…Six different Devils had multi-point games (Andreas Johnsson, Nathan Bastian, Dawson Mercer, Michael McLeod, Ryan Graves and Pavel Zacha)…13 different Devils had at least one point each.