Devils Rout Blackhawks 7-1

If there was one team the Devils wanted to be playing going into the NHL’s Christmas break, it was the Chicago Blackhawks. In one of those strange statistical anomalies, the Blackhawks have lost the last six times they played their final game prior to Christmas, as per Steve Cangialosi of MSG Network. The Devils extended that streak to seven games as they routed Chicago 7-1 tonight at United Center.

This was the second meeting of the season between the teams, as Chicago took the last game at Prudential Center in a shootout earlier in December. It would also be the first meeting between Jesper and Adam Boqvist as the younger Adam was in the lineup tonight (he was not for the game in New Jersey). This marked the third time this season a Devil has faced his brother in a game, following Jack Hughes (brother Quinn – Vancouver) and PK Subban (Malcolm – Vegas). Their mother, father and aunt were all in attendance from Sweden. Unfortunately, things did not end well as both brothers got injured in the first period and neither one returned for the rest of the game.

Jesper Boqvist began the game on the Devils’ top line along with Nico Hischier and Kyle Palmieri and Adam Boqvist was on the Blackhawks’ top defensive pairing with Duncan Keith, which meant that the two would have matched up a lot had they stayed healthy.

Another Devil with family in attendance was John Hayden. His mother’s family is from the Chicago area and his 82-year-old grandfather was in the building to watch him. He would be good luck for John as we shall see later on. Hayden was playing against his former team in the Hawks and was facing John Quenneville, the player he was traded for. Quenneville was making his Blackhawks debut tonight, having been called up from Rockford of the AHL.

The Devils were back to 12 forwards and six defensemen as Connor Carrick, Kevin Rooney and Michael McLeod were the scratches.

In goal for the Devils was Mackenzie Blackwood, who stopped 32 of the 33 shots the Blackhawks fired at him for a .970 save percentage. The Blackhawks started with Corey Crawford who stopped 16 of 20 shots for an .800 save percentage. He was relieved by Robin Lehner who made 21 saves on 24 shots against for a .875 save percentage. The Devils ended the game with a total of 44 shots.

The game began with Jesper Boqvist taking a high-sticking penalty against his brother Adam just 37 seconds into the game. The Devils would kill it off, as they did seven times tonight. Chicago was held to 0-for-7 on the power play with eight shots. The Devils ended the game 0-for-3 with four shots. They also managed three shorthanded shots.

The Hawks got on the board first when Blackwood made two saves on Blackhawks shooters and the puck squibbed behind the net. Zack Smith picked it up and used the wraparound to bury it behind Blackwood and make it 1-0 Chicago. David Kampf and Matthew Highmore had the assists on the goal that came at the 3:21 mark of the first period.

It seemed like the Devils would have their work cut out for them. But, from there, Blackwood settled in and the Devils went to work. The Hawks’ Dennis Gilbert laid big hits on both Jesper Boqvist (resulting in the injury that he left the game for) and Miles Wood and Hayden had seen enough. Gilbert and Hayden went at it 8:22 and Hayden was given the fighting major plus a misconduct and the extra two for instigating. The Devils finished the first period with 25 penalty minutes and the game with 31 total. From here, the Devils comeback was beginning.

It began at the 14:46 mark of the first when Sami Vatanen pushed the puck up ice to Jack Hughes. Hughes lost it just inside the Blackhawks’ blue line and Wayne Simmonds grabbed it. He passed back to Hughes in the near corner. He skated out of the corner, made a nice move around the Chicago defense, and beat Crawford to make it 1-1. This goal also ended an 18-game goal drought for Jack Hughes.

The Devils took the lead on what would be the game-winner just 51 seconds into the second. PK Subban absolutely ripped a shot by Crawford through a few screens that beat the Chicago goaltender cleanly. Jesper Bratt and Palmieri had the assists on the goal that would go down as the clincher.

At the 7:22 mark, Damon Severson made it 3-1 when he came up the left-wing boards, took a pass from Nikita Gusev and cut towards the net. He shot and beat Crawford five-hole. Travis Zajac had the secondary assist on the goal.

The Devils made it 4-1 when Hayden got his first as a Devil and in his hometown against his former team to boot. It came at 10:40 of the second period when Will Butcher took a hit just inside the Blackhawks’ blue line while making a nice behind-the-back pass to Hayden, who was skating up the left-wing side. He beat Crawford to come within an assist of a Gordie Howe hat trick. Pavel Zacha had his other helper.

It was after this goal that Crawford was pulled in favor of Lehner.

And the Devils were not done in the second. Zajac scored shorthanded at 17:22 to make it 5-1. Vatanen had gone off for a hold against Quenneville at 16:47 and on the penalty kill, Zajac and Blake Coleman were off on a two-on-one. Coleman made the smart play and shot at Lehner. Lehner could not handle the rebound and it came right to a crashing Zajac, who put it home to put the Devils further up on top. Andy Greene had the secondary helper.

Blake Coleman would get one of his own just 18 seconds into the third period when Severson used a stretch pass to spring Coleman and Coleman broke in, shooting at Lehner’s five-hole while falling down. The puck went in and the Devils had scored a touchdown, making it 6-1. Nikita Gusev had the other assist.

Midway through the third, Chicago would hit a crossbar. The play was reviewed from Toronto and confirmed to be no goal, a sure sign that what could go wrong did go wrong for the Hawks tonight.

The Devils added the extra point when Gusev came up the right-wing boards, toe dragged around a Blackhawks defender and passed to a trailing Pavel Zacha. Zacha shot and beat Lehner to make it 7-1 which was our final. Severson had the secondary assist on this goal.

In the end, 14 different Devils registered a point with Zajac (2), Coleman (2), Zacha (2), Gusev (3) and Severson (3) all registering multiple points. Coleman (first), Severson (second) and Hayden (third) were the three stars of the game.

In the end, the Devils won 48-percent of the game’s faceoffs, outhit the Blackhawks, 38 to 32, had more blocked shots at 22 to 21 and less giveaways at five to the Hawks’ seven.

Severson led the Devils skaters in ice time with 25:12 (ten seconds on the power play and 7:22 shorthanded) while Zacha led the forwards with 18:09 – nine seconds more than Hischier – with 1:48 on the power play and 4:48 on the penalty kill.

Stats-wise, Hayden led the Devils with 17 total penalty minutes. Wood led in shots with six and in hits with six. Mirco Mueller, Vatanen and Subban all led in blocks with three. Takeaways were led by Zajac and Greene, the vets, with two apiece.

Next up, the Devils will enjoy the Christmas break until Friday, the 27th when they will welcome the Toronto Maple Leafs to The Rock. We will see you then and, in the meantime, if you are celebrating, have a very merry Christmas!

Draft Day Two: Devils Acquire PK Subban

What. A. Day. After getting Jack Hughes with the first overall pick yesterday, the Devils kicked off the second day of the 2019 NHL Draft by making quite the splash. The club acquired defenseman PK Subban from the Nashville Predators in exchange for defenseman Steven Santini, defenseman Jeremy Davies, a second-round pick in this year’s Draft (34th overall) and their second-round pick in the 2020 Draft.

The deal made sense for both teams as Nashville was trying to shed some cap in order to sign free agent forward Matt Duchene and the Devils will take on Subban’s entire salary. New Jersey finally gets to use some of their much-vaunted cap space and add a huge piece to their team going forward.

Subban is 30 years old and is one of the NHL’s premier blueliners. He has appeared in the “last three NHL All-Star Games (captaining his squad in the last two) and has been named to the NHL First All-Star Team twice” according to Chris Wescott of the Devils’ official website.

Subban played from 2009-10 to 2015-16 with the Montreal Canadiens and then the last three seasons with the Preds. One thing that Subban brings to the Devils, besides a booming shot from the point and great offensive skill, is notoriety. He is one of the most popular players in the league and also appears in commercials, endorsing things such as Bridgestone tires. He is also a charitable player who has given back to the community in Montreal and Nashville. It is not a stretch to think that with the combination of Taylor Hall, Jack Hughes and PK Subban, the Devils should now appear on national broadcasts a little bit more than in the past. The Devils suddenly become more interesting to a national audience.

The Devils are getting a player who won the Norris Trophy as the NHL’s top defenseman in 2013 and competed in the 2014 Olympics – where he won a gold medal with Canada. The native of Toronto had nine goals and 22 assists last season for 31 total points. He played in an abbreviated 63 game season due to injury. Over his career, he has notched 98 goals and 310 assists for 408 points in 645 games according to Hockey-Reference.com. NewJerseyDevils.com’s Wescott mentioned that he has played in 96 playoff games. In those postseason games, he has 18 goals and 44 assists for 65 points. He helped lead Nashville to the 2017 Stanley Cup Final.

Welcome to New Jersey, PK Subban!

The Devils also made one other (low profile) trade today, acquiring John Hayden from the Blackhawks in exchange for John Quenneville.

Hayden was the Hawks’ third-round pick in 2013, out of Yale University. He appeared in 54 games for Chicago over the last four seasons, scoring three goals and two assists for five NHL points. He also logged 27 penalty minutes. This information all came via Chris Wescott of NewJerseyDevils.com.

As for the other eight picks the Devils had in this year’s Draft, those were well-spent. The team picked d-man Nikita Okhotyuk of the Ottawa 67’s (Ontario Hockey League) 61st overall in the second round. Wescott said that he had a pair of goals and 15 assists in 56 games for the 67’s last year. The native of Russia was the “NHL Central Scouting’s 55th-ranked North American Skater” and “captained Team Russia to a bronze medal at the 2018 Hlinka-Gretzky Cup.”

In the third round, the Devils had three picks. With the eighth pick, they took defenseman Danill Misyul from Yaroslavl 2 out of Russia. With the 18th pick in the round, they took Graeme Clarke of the Ottawa 67’s of the OHL. Clarke was born April 24, 2001 in Ottawa. He is a 6-foot, 174-pound right winger who plays “the game at a high level. Combines playmaking ability with a nose for the net” according to Future Considerations. McKeen’s Hockey said that he “is also a very gifted puck handler, blending skill with creativity.” He was ranked as the number 77 North American skater by TSN’s Bob McKenzie.

With the 20th pick in the third round, the Devils selected defenseman Michael Vukojevic of the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL. Born June 8, 2001, Vukojevic is a left-shooting d-man and is a “mobile shutdown defenseman who plays a physical brand of hockey” according to Hockeyprospect.com via EliteProspects. The reviews on him are that he is a good skater and “is accomplished at separating his man from the puck and can be punishing in front of his goalie” (McKeen’s Hockey). He was ranked number 76 amongst North American skaters by McKenzie.

Moving on to the fourth round, the Devils had two picks in that round including the third pick and the 25th pick. With the third pick, they took Tyce Thompson, a right wing from Providence College. He is the brother of Tage Thompson of the Buffalo Sabres and was born on July 12, 1999 in Oyster Bay, New York. He was ranked 83rd among North American skaters by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. He put up eight goals and 17 assists for 25 points in 42 games for the Friars last season.

With the 25th pick in the fourth round, the Devils took Case McCarthy of the US National Development Team. McCarthy of Clarence, New York was born on January 9, 2001 and is a right-shooting defenseman. He was ranked 77th by the NHL Central Scouting among North American skaters. He is described as a physical player, who does not go out of position to chase the big hit. He also has an “excellent breakout pass to exit the zone” as per Future Considerations.

Moving on to round five, the Devils had two picks. With the third pick in that round, they took Cole Brady, a goalie from the Janesville Jets of the North American Hockey League. He is 6-feet, 5-inches, 165-pounds and catches left. He was ranked number nine by the NHL Central Scouting for North American goalies. The native of Pickering, Ontario was born February 12, 2001.

Two picks later, the Devils selected Arseny Gritsyuk, a right wing from Omsk-2 of Russia.

With a pick in the sixth round and one in the seventh, the Devils were on the clock two more times. In round sixth, with the third pick, they took Patrick Moynihan, a right wing from the US National Development Program. Moynihan will be playing next season at Providence College, but he Millis, Massachusetts native (born January 23, 2001) was ranked 73rd among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting. He is considered a good two-way forward, with McKeen’s Hockey saying that he “is a diligent and versatile forward, able to impact the game in both the offensive and defensive roles.” Future Considerations said that he “has a good shot and is able to release it quickly to fool opposing goaltenders.” With him committing to Providence, the Devils may or may not be able to sign him following his NCAA career (ala Will Butcher and Alex Kerfoot), but that is the gamble you take on a college player and why you take them in the later rounds generally.

The third pick in the seventh round rounded out the Devils’ 2019 Draft and they took Nikola Pasic, a right wing from Linkoping Jr. of Sweden. A native of Gislaved, Sweden, he was born on October 16, 2000 and was ranked 88th among European skaters by NHL Central Scouting. He is an offensive threat with Hockeyprospect.com saying that “Pasic is a dangler, where he uses his stickhandling to dazzle opponents and gets around them using fast hands and great balance.” McKeen’s Hockey said that he “has a quick release on his wrist shot and is dangerous when shooting while moving at top speed.” Future Considerations summed him up by saying that his “excellent vision and passing skills bode well for teammates and he is great at making plays happen.”

Overall, not a bad haul for the Devils this Draft (quite an understatement, I know). We will see where this takes us as we get closer to development camp and training camp through July, August and September. It is shaping up to be a great time for Devils fans. All I can say is enjoy the ride!