Hockey, Devils Clip Ducks 2-1 in a Shootout

Strong Goaltending Leads The Way for Devils By Matt Blittner, The New York Extra/TheNYExtra.com

Youth, it’s something you don’t appreciate until it’s gone. Children can’t wait to grow up. But once they do they wish they were younger again. Hockey is the same way. Fans and teams can’t wait for their young players to mature into superstars. However, once they do, fans and teams then complain about the cost of keeping those superstars around; wistfully wishing for the days those same players were younger and cheaper. It’s a never ending cycle.

Saturday night at Prudential Center, the Devils entered their game with the Anaheim Ducks as the NHL’s youngest team, at an average age of 25.6. Meanwhile, the Ducks entered the tilt with an average age of 27.8, which is ninth youngest. Even though there’s a slight age difference, both sides have some highly talented youngsters. When New Jersey’s and Anaheim’s youth went to battle, it was the Devils who reigned supreme by a score of 2-1 in a shootout.

Now that we’ve gotten the results, let’s review the details that led to them.

1) Jack Hughes, 20, told the media prior to the game that he had Ducks’ forward Trevor Zegras, 20, over for dinner last night as the two of them used to play for the US National Team Development Program. The niceties ended there as both tried to prove their current team was superior to the other’s. 

2) Edison, NJ, native Anthony Stolarz, was under pressure early and often in Anaheim’s net as the Devils had more pep in their skates than the Ducks. At the other end of the ice, Nico Daws was hardly tested early on. 

3) Jack Hughes and Yegor Sharangovich almost connected on what would have been a beauty of a goal a couple minutes into the game. And in the first 7:11 of the game the Devils accumulated a six-to-one shots on goal advantage. A couple minutes later Hughes attempted a between-the-legs shot that Stolarz just managed to turn aside. 

4) The Devils skated well, but it was the Ducks who scored first. A wicked wrist shot from Troy Terry, 24, beat Nico Daws clean 11:02 into the game for the 1-0 Anaheim lead.

5) There was no further scoring in the opening period but that’s because the Ducks were consistently on top of the Devils in regards to getting their sticks in the right places. Trevor Zegras pulled out a couple between-the-legs/behind-the-back passes of his own but did not find his way onto the scoresheet.

“After the first period we turned it around,” said Jonas Siegenthaler. 

“I didn’t like the way we started the game,” added Head Coach Lindy Ruff.

6) New Jersey started the second period determined to tie the game before Anaheim could extend its lead. 2:39 into the period Jesper Boqvist led a rush up the ice and dished the puck to Tomas Tatar. Number 90 received the puck, rushed towards the net and put the rubber biscuit through Stolarz to tie the game 1-1. 

7) New Jersey’s best chance to take the lead came midway through the period when Pavel Zacha was stoned at the side of the net by Stolarz on a three-on-one odd man rush. Zacha has been skating well of late as he continues to fill in for Nico Hischier, who has been out with a lower-body issue.

8) The Devils’ next best chance to take the lead was a moment later when Buddy Robinson tripped P.K. Subban at the 10:41 mark of the second period. On the power-play for the first time in the game, New Jersey did not manage a shot on goal. 1:30 after the power-play expired, with the Devils still controlling the pace of play, Sonny Milano cross-checked Yegor Sharangovich to send the home team to its second power-play of the game. Unfortunately, this power-play opportunity went the same as the first one.

“We weren’t too happy with our power-play today,” said Tomas Tatar. 

9) That was all for the second period as New Jersey and Anaheim headed into the final 20-minutes of regulation tied 1-1. 

10) The third period started with quite a bit of neutral zone play by both sides. That ended when Ty Smith was called for slashing former Devil, Adam Henrique 2:16 into the period. On the penalty-kill for the first time in the game the Devils went on the offensive. Pavel Zacha had one of New Jersey’s two short-handed chances. He just couldn’t convert. 

11) 1:22 after Smith was released from the penalty box Jimmy Vesey took his place after being called for slashing Andrej Sustr. New Jersey didn’t mount an offensive attack this time but they did hold Anaheim in check.

12) A quick dive into each team’s performance through 50-minutes of regulation yields one observation in particular; Nico Daws and Anthony Stolarz were both at the top of their game. Neither netminder wanted to give up the go-ahead goal and each made a couple key saves to accentuate that point.

“He’s been awesome,” Siegethaler said of Daws. “He’s a young kid but he’s playing like a goalie who’s been around for awhile.”

“We’ve allowed him to take the ball and run with it,” added Lindy Ruff.

13) It wasn’t just the goaltenders who made saves though. The Devils’ net also unofficially made a pair of saves on Adam Henrique, who hit the crossbar twice; including once with under four-minutes to go in regulation.

14) New Jersey got a brief scare late in the third when Ryan Graves limped to the dressing room after blocking a shot but he managed to return just prior to the end of regulation. At the end of regulation the teams were tied 1-1 with New Jersey holding the edge in shots 37-32.

15) In the three-on-three overtime things started slow and picked up late. Jack Hughes had a partial breakaway late in the extra period and was stopped by Stolarz. However, he did draw a penalty to get the Devils their third power-play of the game. The penalty was assessed to Cam Fowler for slashing. 

16) The Devils didn’t score on their brief power-play and the game went to a shootout.

17) In the shootout Tomas Tatar went backhand on Stolarz to open the scoring and Jesper Bratt added on in Round Two with a goal off a quick deke. Nico Daws stopped Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry in succession to win his first ever shootout. The Devils won 2-1. 

“I saw his pads went down,” Tatar explained. “But you know it’s 50-50 in a shootout.”

“It makes my job a little easier (when we score first)” said Nico Daws.

GAME NOTES

New Jersey’s power-play went 0-for-3 on the night. Meanwhile the Devils went 2-for-2 on the penalty-kill…Jack Hughes led all Devils forwards in ice time at 23:02…Damon Severson led all New Jersey defensemen in ice time at 25:14…Nathan Bastian played in his 100th career NHL game…Devils Head Coach Lindy Ruff coached in his 1,608th career NHL game, moving him past Al Arbour for fifth-place on the all-time list…Nico Daws won his first ever shootout.