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Devils Win Streak Comes to End in Beantown

The Devils’ three-game win streak came to a halt as the team fell 5-3 in Boston to the Bruins.

Let’s get right to the point, though. The Devils were depleted big time.

As reported by Sam Kasan earlier today, team captain Nico Hischier (lower body injury) was out for tonight as he had blocked a key shot at the end of the second period of the game in Washington on Sunday. The good news is that it was reported by Devils TV play-by-play man Steve Cangilosi at the end of the MSG+ broadcast tonight that Nico will rejoin the team tomorrow and will likely practice with them.

Today was also Hischier’s 23rd birthday, so happy birthday to the captain!

In more sobering injury news, the team announced that goalie Jonathan Bernier had successful right hip surgery on Monday and will miss the rest of the season. In addition, defenseman Dougie Hamilton (broken jaw) will have surgery tomorrow – Wednesday, January 5 – and be place on Injured Reserve retroactive to January 2.

In COVID Protocol news Kasan also reported that the Devils got Tomas Tatar off of the list and back in the lineup tonight, but lost Yegor Sharangovich and Pavel Zacha to COVID Protocol. They join head coach Lindy Ruff and forward Jimmy Vesey already on the list.

Due to this major upheaval on the roster, the Devils slotted Mason Geertsen back in on the fourth line and had defenseman Christian Jaros in for Hamilton. Alexander Holtz also played in his first NHL game since November 20th for the Devils. Tatar played left wing on the top line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt.

In goal, the Devils were back to Mackenzie Blackwood as he has to be a workhorse for the time being. He made 29 saves on 34 total Bruins shots for an .853 save percentage on the night. He stopped Boston’s lone shorthanded shot and their only power play shot. The Bruins were 0-for-1 on the power play. He made 27 saves on 32 shots at five-against-five.

The Bruins went with Linus Ullmark, who was equal to 23 of the Devils’ 26 to shots for a nightly save percentage of .885. He got both of the Devils’ shorthanded shots and 21 of their 24 at even strength. The Devils were also 0-for-1 on the power play in a game where very little was called against either team.

The Bruins were in their “non-spoked B” third jerseys tonight.

Boston took the early lead just 2:53 into the game when Holtz had the puck in the Bruins zone and tried to lightly bank the puck off of the boards instead of just getting it deeper in the zone.

Curtis Lazar recovered off of that turnover and was in on a partial 2-on-1. He elected to shoot himself off of the rush up the right wing and beat Blackwood 5-hole unassisted to give the B’s the 1-0 lead.

Then the scary moments began for the Devils beginning mid-first period when Brandon Carlo tried to flip a puck to Taylor Hall through the neutral zone and Andreas Johnsson got hit in the side of the helmet with the puck.

Johnsson skated off on his own power and did return right away, however.

The Devils were playing catchup and would get things tied up just 57 seconds into what would become a wild second period.

The Bruins were trying to go D-to-D and a pass to David Pastrnak, who had been winding up for a one-timer, was picked off by Nate Bastian with perfect timing. Bastian was then off on his own on Ullmark, scoring glove side on the breakaway following the perfect read. That tied the game at one. The goal was unassisted.

For 20 seconds.

At 1:17 gone by, one of the strangest goals you will ever see occurred. The puck ended up on top of the Devils net. The rule states that the puck is still in play for three seconds. If it sits on top of the netting for three seconds or more, the whistle can be blown and play called dead.

In a heads-up play, Boston’s Oskar Steen jarred it loose and the puck rolled down Blackwood’s back and into the net. When it was timed by the MSG+ video staff, it had sat on top of the net for 1.5 seconds. Derek Forbort (secondary) and Nick Foligno (primary) had the assists on Steen’s first NHL goal – one of the weirdest first NHL goals you will ever see.

It was now 2-1 B’s but the Devils would not sit back on that either. Their response came at the 3:05 mark when Jesper Bratt gained the Bruins zone and dished to Jack Hughes on the right side. He got the puck to the returning Tatar, who shot through a maze of legs in front to knot the game at two apiece.

Hughes, with the primary assist, now moves his point scoring streak to four games.

Things would settle down for a bit until the Bruins retook the lead at the 9:42 mark of the second.

This was another odd goal. Lazar got the puck deep into the Devils zone and Trent Frederic recovered down low. Frederic threw sort of blindly towards Blackwood’s net on the backhand. Blackwood could not seal off the far post fast enough and the puck snuck in between his arm and the post, making it 3-2 Bruins.

Right after the Frederic goal, Dawson Mercer was hit in the face with a puck and needed to leave for the locker room for repairs. He would return, however, as the Devils dodged another bullet.

That took us into the third period, which was another relatively wild ride.

The scoring began when Damon Severson was called for the Devils first penalty 5:28 into the frame. He received a two-minute minor for holding Frederic’s stick.

The Devils would kill that off with a very effective PK and, as Severson was coming out of the penalty box, Michael McLeod hit him with a high flip pass that sprung Severson on a breakaway. Severson cut in on Ullmark and made a nice forehand to backhand move and scored to tie the game at three. That goal came at the 7:36 mark of the third.

That goal moved Severson up to sixth in goalscoring for defensemen in franchise history and fifth in Devils history. Joe Cirella just ahead of him on the franchise list and actually scored seven of his goals with the Colorado Rockies, so that actually puts Damon at fifth on a Devils-only list.

Things seemed to be headed towards another late ending and that was just what we got, just not in the Devils’ favor this time.

At the 14:11 mark of the third, Hall had a shot blocked to the far corner by Blackwood. Pastrnak got it back and made a power move towards the front of the Devils net. Blackwood fended off his initial chance but Pastrnak was right there to put his own rebound in to give the Bruins back the lead at 4-3. Erik Haula had the secondary assist on the goal.

Blackwood was pulled for the extra attacker with about 1:46 left to play. The Devils could not score and, when a faceoff brought the play back down out of the Boston zone, Blackwood was back in the Devils net.

And here was where the Bruins would ice things.

With less than thirty seconds to go in regulation, Tomas Nosek passed to Carlo, who got just inside the Devils blue line. He took a long-range shot that deflected off the inside of Mercer’s leg and by Blackwood to make it 5-3 Boston, our final.

Hughes, who had his stick broken on a not-called-slash on the play had a gripe, but the goal counted and the Devils’ bid for their first four-game winning streak since the 2018-19 season was done.

The Devils were outshot 34 to 26. Boston absolutely annihilated them in the faceoff circle, winning 64-percent of the game’s draws. Jesper Boqvist led the Devils centers with a 50-percent personal winning percentage.

The Devils were outhit 29 to 25. They did have more blocked shots than the Bruins with 13 to Boston’s nine. The Devils have 15 team giveaways to the B’s ten.

Time on ice saw PK Subban led everyone with 26:07 (including 47 seconds on the power play and 1:28 shorthanded). Severson led the d-men in power play time with 1:13 of that included in his 25:08 of total ice time.

For the forwards, Hughes totaled 20:08 of ice time to lead there – which included 1:13 of PP time. McLeod led the forwards in PK time with 1:32 worked into his total of 17:16 of total TOI.

Ryan Graves led in shots on goal with five. Nate Bastian led in hits with six. Blocks were led by Mercer, Graves and Jonas Siegenthaler with two each. Mercer led in individual giveaways with four. Takeaways were led by Subban with three.

Next up, the Devils will kick off a home-and-home series with the Columbus Blue Jackets beginning on Thursday with the first game at Prudential Center in 2022. Puck drop for that game is 7 PM and the game will be aired on MSG+.

We will have coverage for you right here following that game. In the meantime, enjoy the rest of your week everyone!

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Devils Drop Wild One in Steel City

Hockey can be a crazy game. Sometimes you give up six goals over the first two periods and then, boom!, you make a third period comeback and score six to only drop the game 7-6.

That’s exactly what happened to the New Jersey Devils tonight. In the first of three straight against the Penguins in Pittsburgh, the Devils gave up six goals over the first two periods and then made a comeback for the ages – scoring six goals in one period (the first time they had done so since 1996 against the Hartford Whalers) – but giving one up to lose 7-6.

First, a big welcome back to Erika Wachter and Bryce Salvador from the COVID protocol list. They missed eight games since going on the list on April 8. They made their return to TV tonight, but unfortunately, they were replaced on the COVID list by PK Subban, who did not play tonight.

He joined Ty Smith (upper body), Mackenzie Blackwood (upper body), Pavel Zacha and Jesper Bratt on the sidelines. Connor Carrick slotted in on defense for Subban. Mikhail Maltsev was the lone healthy scratch.

With Blackwood out, Scott Wedgewood made his first start in two weeks and… it did not go well. He faced 13 shots and let in four, making only nine saves for a .692 save percentage. All of those shots and goals came at even strength.

Aaron Dell came on in relief in the second period and made 16 saves on 19 shots with an .842 save percentage. He stopped the lone shorthanded shot the Pens threw at him and was 2-for-3 on the power play (the Penguins went 1-for-2 on the power play). He stopped 19-of-23 at even strength. The Pens finished with 32 total shots.

In goal for Pittsburgh, Tristan Jarry stopped 23-of-30 Devils’ shots for an .800 save percentage. He let in the only Devils shorthanded goal, stopped five of their six power play shots (the Devils were 1-for-4 on the power play) and stopped 19-of-23 at even strength. He also picked up a point – an assist on a Brian Dumoulin goal.

And now let’s get to the goal recaps because there were a lot of them and I want to sleep tonight.

It began 3:49 into the game when Pittsburgh’s Mike Matheson scored. Jared McCann gathered a loose puck and passed to Cody Ceci, who bobbled the pass but moved it up top to Matheson at the point. Matheson then blasted a shot by Wedgewood to make it 1-0 Penguins.

Bryan Rust made it 2-0 at 8:04 when the Pens’ Jake Guentzel got the puck to Sidney Crosby, who banked a pass off of the boards to Rust, who got in behind the Devils’ defense. He shot past Wedgewood’s left pad and scored.

A strange one next. Dumoulin dumped the puck into the Devils zone at 9:49 and the puck took a weird hop, as Wedgewood was deep in his net and it bounced through him and in. Jarry had the assist on this goal, which made it 3-0 Pittsburgh.

One more before the first period was up. Newly acquired Jeff Carter scored just moments after Miles Wood hit the post on a partial breakaway for the Devils. McCann passed threw the puck towards Carter and the puck bounced off of Jonas Siegenthaler’s skate and came right to Carter. He fanned on the shot, kind of sending a fluttering puck Wedgewood’s way. It hit Matt Tennyson and redirected past Wedgewood to make it 4-0 Penguins. The goal came at the 17:56 mark of the first and Kris Letang had the secondary assist.

When the horn sounded, the period from hell was over for Scott Wedgewood and so was his night. Aaron Dell came in to play the second.

And he let one in just 1:12 into the new frame when Evan Rodrigues got the puck off of the end board, shot in by Zach Aston-Reese. He faked a shot and made a nice no-look, behind-the-back pass to Teddy Blueger, who shot into a wide-open net and scored. It was now 5-0 Pens.

Rodrigues would get one of his own later in the second. At 15:18, he scored on the power play. It was a weak elbowing call against Siegenthaler, as the Pittsburgh player kind of ran into him with Siegenthaler not moving his elbow.

But it was what it was and the Devils had to kill the penalty.

They did not when, with mere seconds left on the man advantage, Jason Zucker at the side of the Devils’ net passed to Rodrigues at the far faceoff circle. He scored from there to put up the touchdown in the home of the Pittsburgh Steelers. John Marino had the secondary assist.

The Devils were deep in a hole when the third period started, but things were about to get even weirder.

Just 41 seconds into the third, with the Devils on a 5-on-3 power play for 1:19. Nick Merkley threw a saucer pass through the slot to Nico Hischier at the bottom of the far faceoff circle. He scored to make it 6-1. Will Butcher had the secondary assist.

At 5:14, with the Devils down a man, Yegor Sharangovich scored the Devils’ first shorthanded goal since Kyle Palmieri did it in Boston earlier in the year. It came unassisted when he intercepted a Letang pass just inside the Devils blue line and was off to the races. He cut in on net with a Penguin defender draped all over him and shot between the post and Jarry’s stick to beat him. It was now 6-2 Devils.

At 8:49, Nathan Bastian cut the Pens lead in half when Miles Wood went low-to-high with Butcher. Butcher shot and Bastian reached out with his stickto redirect a puck going wide past the right post to make it 6-3 Penguins.

A brief interlude by Pittsburgh that would go down as the game winner when, at 11:15, Guentzel got the puck to Crosby, camped out just below the goal line. Crosby took the pass and, with a quick release, roofed it in and out over Dell. That made it 7-3 as the Pens put up the extra point.

But the Devils were not done making this a game.

At 12:52, Jack Hughes scored when Sharangovich gained the Penguins’ zone, stopped just inside the blue line and found a seam to a cutting Hughes coming up the right wing. Hughes shot and beat Jarry stick side. It was now 7-4 Pittsburgh.

At 13:56, Merkley passed cross-ice to Nolan Foote, who was placed at the near faceoff dot. He shot and scored, notching his first NHL goal in just his second NHL game. Damon Severson had the secondary assist.

Dell was pulled with about 1:25 left in regulation and the Devils capitalized. The Pens could not clear the zone and Butcher kept it in. He gave to Wood, who got it to Andreas Johnsson. Johnsson banked the puck off of Ceci and Jarry’s skates and into the net from behind the net, breaking his goalless drought. That made it 7-6 as this was officially the highest scoring game for the Devils since a 7-6 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on October 30, 2019.

But that was how it was to stay. The Crosby goal proved the insurance the Pens needed and, though Dell was pulled a second time, the Devils could not equalize. The Devils had lost their seventh in a row.

The Devils were outshot 32-30, won 45-percent of the game’s faceoffs, were outhit 23-21 and had less blocked shots at 18-9. They did have one fewer turnover at three to Pittsburgh’s four.

Nico Hischier led in faceoff winning percentage for centers with a 48-percent clip. Severson led the team in time on ice with 23:30 while Hischier led the forwards with 21:02. Hischier and Hughes led in power play time with 5:03 on the man advantage.

Shots were led by Hischier, Hughes and Butcher who each had four. Bastian led in hits with four. Carrick led in blocks with four while Michael McLeod led in takeaways with two.

Next up, the Devils remain in Pittsburgh, playing game two of this three-game miniseries on Thursday at 7 PM. We will see what the Devils can muster and if they can beak their seven game winless skid.

We will have coverage for you then and, of course, everyone stay safe in the meantime.