The New Jersey Devils defeated the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Saturday afternoon at the Prudential Center. The Devils weren’t crisp early but steadily improved throughout the game to grab a lead, and they never relinquished it. They played a smart game and capitalized on opportunities to earn a fourth consecutive victory during a tough stretch of high-quality opponents. With the win, the Devils improved to 4-1, while the Oilers fell to 2-2-1.
Game Recap
Period One
The Devils had a good early look from Arseny Gritsyuk, but they found themselves on the penalty kill after Dawson Mercer was called for a high stick. The penalty kill was impressive and held the Oilers without a shot.
Edmonton had some extended zone time after their power play, but Jake Allen was able to fight off a few shots from distance as the Devils tried to find their legs.
The Oilers had a two-on-one rush chance, but Jonas Siegenthaler made a perfectly timed play to eliminate the cross-slot pass and prevent a scoring opportunity.
The Devils had their first flurry of o-zone chances, and Calvin Pickard was sharp, saving a few point-blank shots.
Jack Hughes was tripped down, sending the Devils to their first power play of the afternoon, but they couldn’t get anything going.
The Devils surged with just over a minute left in the first frame, forcing Pickard to make a few more saves from dangerous areas of the ice.
New Jersey was outshot 9-4 through the first 20 minutes.
Period Two
The Devils had the early jump and put a few shots on Pickard, but Jesper Bratt was called for tripping, sending the Oilers to the power play. Allen made a strong sliding save on Leon Draisaitl, and New Jersey killed off the penalty.
The Devils hemmed the Oilers in their zone but couldn’t get anything past Pickard.
New Jersey opened the scoring at 8:07 when Brett Pesce hit a streaking Jack Hughes, who split the Oilers’ defense and fired a shot off the post and past Packard for his second goal in as many games.
There was some end-to-end action before Cody Glass ripped a shot from the circle that caught Pickard square in the mask, dislodging it and leading to a stoppage.
The Oilers had a giveaway directly in front of Pickard that found Nico Hischier, but the Devils couldn’t grab a two-goal lead. They surged again, and Pickard made another save on a shot by Ondrej Palat right in front of the crease.
Again, the Devils pinned the Oilers in their zone as they sent a flurry of shots toward the net. Hischier had a breakaway attempt but was hauled down by Mattias Ekholm and crashed into Pickard, who was slow to get up.
The Devils went to the power play and immediately cashed in with a slick backhanded shot to light the lamp at 16:02. Jack Hughes and Hischier had the assists.
New Jersey had a few good shifts after their second goal, but they had trouble getting the puck out of their own zone, which eventually turned into Edmonton’s first goal of the game by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins at 18:16. Connor McDavid and Jack Roslovic had the assists.
The Devils outshot the Oilers 14-13 in the middle frame.
Period Three
The Oilers had the early jump, but the Devils responded with a few dangerous chances of their own before settling into the flow of the game.
The Devils weren’t getting shots, but they controlled play as the period neared its midway point. Edmonton looked to set up in front of Allen, but Connor Brown made a great play to intercept a pass along the blue line and clear the zone.
Glass caught Trent Frederic with a high stick with 9:58 left in the game, sending New Jersey to a third penalty kill. The Devils fought to clear the zone, and Brown found himself on a shorthanded breakaway that he fired home against his former team at 10:37 for his third goal as a Devil. Luke Glendening picked up the lone assist.
The Devils surged offensively despite being on the penalty kill and peppered the Oilers net with dangerous chances. They couldn’t grab a second shorthanded goal, but they killed off the rest of the penalty.
Minutes later, the Devils added a fourth goal after Bratt forced a turnover by Darnell Nurse and found Jack Hughes in front of Pickard for his second goal of the game at 12:33.
The Oilers were tagged for a high stick, and New Jersey got a power play opportunity, but they couldn’t extend their lead.
Edmonton pulled Pickard in favor of the extra attacker and Nugent-Hopkins scored his second of the game at 16:29. McDavid and Nurse had the assists.
The Oilers pulled Pickard again with just over two minutes left in the game, and Jack Hughes made a few good plays in his own zone to deny Edmonton access to the center of the ice and cleared the zone.
After an icing, the Devils won a crucial faceoff in front of Allen and again, cleared the zone before Mercer hit the empty net to ice the game at 18:53. Hischier had the lone assist.
Former Devil, Curtis Lazar, scored in his return to New Jersey, but with just a few seconds left on the clock, it was rendered inconsequential.
The Devils were outshot 30-23 but came away with the 5-3 win.
Takeaways
Beat the Best
As the saying goes, “To be the best, you have to beat the best,” and the Devils did just that on their short, two-game home stand, taking down the two-time defending champion Florida Panthers and the two-time runner-up Edmonton Oilers in consecutive matchups.
Maturity is the most apparent theme that encompasses the past two games for the Devils. They took on two teams who know how to win games, even when they aren’t clicking perfectly, and defeated them handily.
Especially against the Oilers, New Jersey wasn’t crisp in the early going. Their passes weren’t connecting, and everything seemed to be a step off. Allen stood tall in net, and the Devils stuck with it, making smart, composed plays as they worked to find their legs and get on the same page with each other. Even as soon as the second half of the first period, they started to click, and the offense came with it.
Beyond the maturity aspect, the Devils’ stars came to play, and their names are littered all over the score sheets. Between the two home games, Jack Hughes picked up three goals and one assist for four points. Hischier and Bratt accumulated one goal and two assists each. Timo Meier also racked up a goal and an assist as he is off to a hot start to the season.
With ample contributions from the rest of the lineup, the Devils’ offense looked lethal against two high-powered forward groups in Florida and Edmonton. The Florida Panthers are missing some of their stars due to injury, but against the Oilers, New Jersey’s stars simply outplayed the big names on the other side of the ice, a great sign of development from the Devils’ core.
Powerful Penalty Kill
The Devils’ penalty kill continued to impress against the Oilers. It held Edmonton’s notoriously good power play off the board in all three opportunities that they had, and even notched a shorthanded goal.
In fact, New Jersey has killed 16 consecutive power plays and racked up two shorthanded goals in that time. Beyond that point, opponents have scored just one power play goal in 20 attempts.
The penalty kill was a major strength for New Jersey last season, and, at the very least, it is just as good this season. Not only can the strong penalty kills extinguish momentum for the other team, but the Devils can generate their own momentum by frustrating opponents and continuously creating shorthanded scoring threats.
Gone Streaking
Despite making the playoffs last season, the Devils were unable to win more than three consecutive games all year. In fact, New Jersey hadn’t strung together four wins in a row since January of 2023.
It’s just five games into the 2025-26 season, but the Devils can already put that “curse” to bed. The Devils suffered from their inability to string together three-plus wins last season and found themselves lower in the playoff standings and without the advantage of home ice, something that can swing momentum in a playoff series.
With the lack of an extended win streak off their shoulders, the Devils can breathe easier and play loose, hopefully resulting in more consistent success in the win column.
Up Next
The Devils have a few days off before they head back on the road to take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday night at Scotiabank Arena.
The Maple Leafs have a new look this season with the departure of long-time “core-four” player, Mitch Marner. They sit third in the Atlantic Division with a 3-2-1 record. Most recently, they lost to the Seattle Kraken 4-3 in overtime on Saturday night.
Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. on MSG.
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