The New Jersey Devils defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 in a shootout on Wednesday night in Las Vegas. The Devils put together their most complete performance in a long time, controlling play for much of the night. When the Golden Knights generated grade-A opportunities, Jake Allen was there to make big saves and give New Jersey the steady presence they needed in the blue paint. With the win, the Devils improved to 19-14-1 while the Golden Knights fell to 16-6-10.
Game Recap
Period One
The Devils went right into the O-zone on the opening shift, but Jonas Siegenthaler was tagged for a penalty less than a minute in, sending Vegas to the power play. The Devils killed it off without allowing much.
New Jersey went to work again in the offensive zone and had a few chances on Carter Hart, but couldn’t get the puck through to the net.
Vegas had a rush opportunity, but Jake Allen made a great sliding save to keep them off the board.
Jeremy Lauzon boarded Stefan Noesen, and the Devils went to the power play just past the midway point of the period. They had four shots with the man advantage but couldn’t convert.
The teams exchanged chances as the clock wound down, but they remained scoreless after one.
The Devils were outshot 10-8 through 20 minutes.
Period Two
The Devils were on their heels to begin the second, with sloppy turnovers that gave Vegas too much zone time.
New Jersey countered with a great opportunity by Nico Hischier that led to an O-zone faceoff for the Devils. After forcing a turnover behind the net, Connor Brown grabbed the puck and maneuvered it around Hart for his eighth goal of the season at 4:50. The tally was unassisted.
The Golden Knights mounted some pressure, but the Devils responded with a strong forecheck and got inside of Vegas’ defense, forcing Hart to make some big saves to hold New Jersey at just one goal.
Again, the Devils surged as Luke Hughes made a nice play along the blue line to set up Ondrej Palat at the side of the net, but he couldn’t finish the chance.
The Devils continued to push, and Mitch Marner was sent to the penalty box after he tripped up Hischier. New Jersey was disconnected early in the power play, struggling to set up in the O-zone and giving up a shorthanded chance that Allen saved.
Eventually, the Devils broke into the zone and set up a good chance that was saved. Paul Cotter started a scrum after the play, upset with two uncalled crosschecks, and was sent to the box as New Jersey’s power play expired.
While shorthanded, Hischier stripped Marner of the puck and sprung himself on a partial breakaway that he sent high. The Golden Knights had zone time to finish the period, but the Devils held them off and took the one goal lead into the final period.
New Jersey was outshot 15-12 in the middle frame.
Period Three
Luke Hughes and Hischier combined for a flurry of chances as the Devils looked strong to begin the third.
New Jersey was in control, but a broken play in front of their net forced Allen to make a few point-blank saves to bail his team out.
The Devils did a good job clogging the neutral zone, but Allen had to make some good saves when the Golden Knights were able to get something through to his net.
The Golden Knights began to surge as time ticked off the clock. Luke Hughes made another strong play behind the net to break the Devils out of their zone and alleviate some pressure.
With just under five minutes left to play, the Devils were tagged for tripping, giving the Golden Knights a late power play, and they converted at 15:49, after a failed clearance and a lucky bounce found Pavel Dorofeyev open in front of Allen. Mark Stone and Tomas Hertl had the assists.
The Devils nearly regained the lead seconds later with a slot shot by Cody Glass, but he couldn’t give the Devils the go-ahead goal. New Jersey surged again and had Vegas’ defense out of sorts, but they couldn’t capitalize.
The clock expired with the contest tied at one apiece.
The Devils were outshot 34-31 in regulation.
Overtime and Shootout
Both teams had chances early in overtime, but Dawson Mercer was called for hooking with two minutes left in the three-on-three period. Allen and the defense came up huge, killing off the penalty and sending the game to a shootout.
In the shootout, Jesper Bratt scored the only goal of the six combined shooters, giving the Devils a well-earned 2-1 victory.
New Jersey was outshot 37-33 in 65 minutes of play.
Takeaways
Still with a depleted lineup, the Devils put together a gritty effort to take down the top team in the Pacific. Every facet of their game was improved from the previous outing against the Canucks, and it was reflected in the ultimate result.
Brett Pesce’s return to the lineup cannot be understated. The Devils looked much more connected in the neutral and defensive zones, making it difficult for Vegas to gain clean entries. Additionally, they won puck battles along the walls to allow for easier zone exits.
Zone exits had been a problem for the Devils in the past few weeks, and the game against Vegas showed exactly why they’re important. When the Devils were effectively moving the puck out of the zone in one or two passes, the Golden Knights couldn’t set up or generate chances off the cycle. When the Devils faltered and failed to clear the zone a few times during their penalty kill, they were punished with a goal against.
At the other end of the ice, they simplified their game. They forechecked hard and got more pucks to the net, a welcome sight for Devils fans, even though it only yielded one goal. The Devils must find ways to score more goals as they wait for Jack Hughes, Timo Meier and others to rejoin the lineup, but their performance in Las Vegas was a step in the right direction.
Jake Allen also played a huge role in New Jersey’s victory, allowing just one goal on 37 shots for a .973 SV%. He saved 3.71 goals above expected. With so much of the forward group sidelined, offense has been hard to come by, and Allen stepped up big to help his team pick up two important points in the standings.
Up Next
The Devils look to stay in the win column on Friday night when they take on the Utah Mammoth in Salt Lake City.
The Mammoth sit fourth in the Central Division with a 17-16-3 record. They are 5-5-0 in their past ten contests.
Most recently, they defeated the Detroit Red Wings 4-1 on Wednesday night.
Puck drop is set for 9:00 p.m. EST on MSGSN2.
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