Pat Pickens
Days after they were officially eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the New Jersey Devils played the role of spoiler Saturday.
The Devils scored three third-period goals and eliminated the Detroit Red Wings from postseason contention with a 5-3 win at Little Caesars Arena.
Jesper Bratt had two goals and one assist, and Jack Hughes had a goal and an assist. The Devils snapped a two-game losing skid, won the season series from the Wings 2-1 and won for the ninth time in their past 15 games.
The Devils Rallied to Defeat the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday
The Wings entered play desperate while hoping to keep their playoff hopes alive. Detroit recorded the game’s first 10 shots on goal, the last of which was Justin Faulk‘s 15th goal of the season that put the Wings up 1-0 at 9:41 of the first.
Hughes’ goal less than a minute later, on the Devils’ first shot on goal, both knotted the score and helped the Devils find their game. Still, the Devils were 13 minutes away from their third straight loss after Detroit forward Emmitt Finnie scored his 13th goal of the season on a rebound at 7:00 of the final frame.
“They definitely had a lot to play for,” Bratt said. “They kind of had to try to go for it and had to win.”
Yet, Cody Glass added to his career year by scoring his 19th of the year, a greasy goal at 11:18. Then Bratt finished a perfectly executed two-on-one, off a turnover created by Hughes, and gave the Devils a 4-3 lead with his 22nd of the year with just 3:34 in regulation.
“We were just patient and kinda were waiting for them to make mistakes,” Bratt said. “We just kinda capitalized on it.”
With Detroit’s season on the line — with a win it could have kept pace with the Ottawa Senators, who defeated the New York Islanders earlier in the day — the Devils outshot them 12-7 in the final frame. New Jersey sealed its 41st win with Dawson Mercer’s empty-net goal.
“I’m pretty proud of the group right now,” Bratt said. “I think we played pretty well, a pretty solid road game.”
The Devils Dominated the Second Period
Devils coach Sheldon Keefe blamed their early-game struggles on Dougie Hamilton‘s first-period tripping penalty that “put us on our heels.” But after surviving that, and Detroit’s early push, the Devils dominated the second period.
The Devils both outshot the Red Wings 13-8 in the second and took the second-period shot-attempt count 33-13. New Jersey had a 1.72 Expected Goal total in the second period, per Natural Stat Trick, and registered 21 scoring chances and nine high-danger chances.
“I liked a lot about our game today,” Keefe said. “It took a bit for us to get going offensively … once we got cooking, I felt we were pretty good the rest of the way.
“Dominant second period, which we were looking for.”
The Devils nearly entered the third trailing 2-1, since David Perron gave the Red Wings that lead with his 12th goal of the season at 11:59. But Bratt’s seeing-eye shot from the high slot beat Gibson and gave the Devils a rare bit of puck luck they have sorely been lacking all year.
“We didn’t necessarily get rewarded. It took a while,” Keefe said. “[The Devils’ play] probably took some miles off their top defenseman in that second period that maybe benefited us later in the game.”
Jake Allen Was Solid in Goal
Faulk’s goal was a stoppable shot, but it’s hard to bury Devils goalie Jake Allen when he was under for most of the first period.
Allen made 25 saves, 12 of which came in a first period where he allowed a goal but the Red Wings had 1.91 expected goals, according to Natural Stat Trick. The Wings finished with 3.78 xG, and Allen stopped six of seven high-danger shots (.857 save%) while outplaying Gibson at the other end.
Allen probably will start the Devils’ season finale Tuesday in Boston, since Nico Daws will start Sunday vs Ottawa and No. 1 goalie Jacob Markstrom was shut down Friday. He has been solid all season and improved his numbers to 17-17-2 with a .904 save% and 2.74 GAA this season.
