The New Jersey Devils picked up a much needed victory on the road against the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday, a narrow 2-1 shootout win on the back of a 36-save Jake Allen masterclass.
Allen got the start for New Jersey in Sin City after Jacob Markstrom picked up the loss on Sunday against the Vancouver Canucks, a game in which the Devils only allowed 15 shots on goal.
With the win, Allen moved to 10-7-0 on the season, improving his GAA to 2.49 and his save percentage to .912.
Carter Hart got his fifth start of the season in between the pipes for Vegas tonight after missing all of the 2024-25 season for his involvement in the 2018 Canada Hockey sexual assault case. The former Philadelphia Flyer fell to 3-0-2 on the season with the shootout loss.
The Golden Knights missed a number of key contributors, headlined by recent injuries to stars Jack Eichel and Shea Theodore, joining defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, forward William Karlsson and goaltender Adin Hill on the disabled list.
Of course, the Devils’ injury woes continue as well, with New Jersey missing as many as seven players, helping them to ten losses in their last 15 games. However, defenseman Brett Pesce made his long-awaited return to the lineup, his first game since an upper body injury sustained on Oct. 26 vs the Colorado Avalanche.
The Devils have seriously missed the Tarrytown, NY native’s impact on the blue line this season. With Pesce in the lineup, New Jersey’s penalty kill percentage was the NHL’s second highest at 93.5% and has since crumbled to the league’s worst at 66.7% ahead of puck drop on Wedensday night.
First Period
Early on, the Devils’ penalty kill was tested as Jonas Siegenthaler picked up a hooking minor within the game’s first minute. Stepping onto the ice for his first shift in almost two months was Pesce, who helped New Jersey to a clean kill.
Connor Brown missed a golden opportunity to give New Jersey the early lead as he fired a point blank shot high and wide just five minutes into the game, the first of a couple first period looks for Brown.
On the other end, the Golden Knights looked like they would open the scoring at the ten-minute mark, but Allen flashed leather for a beautiful glove save to deny Ben Hutton on a three-on-two rush.
The Devils got an opportunity to improve the other side of their special teams when Stefan Noesen took a Jeremy Lauzon hit up high for a minor boarding penalty with 7:39 to go. Despite drawing blood and needing attention from the collision, Noesen started the power play on the ice.
However, the Devils failed to convert yet again five-on-four, with Nico Hischier firing an early shot off the pipe and Hart denying a wide open look for Ondrej Palat. New Jersey’s recent power play struggles continued throughout the night, as the Devils went 0 for 3 with the man-advantage. Having only scored one PPG in its previous six games, their power play worsens to just one goal in their last 15 attempts.
The Devils fired off eight shots to the Golden Knights’ ten through a scoreless 20 minutes. Both goalies shined in what was a tentative opening frame.
Second Period
Allen was called into action early as Pavel Dorofeyev forced his way to the front of the net with an impressive power move in the period’s opening shift, but the Fredericton, New Brunswick native held strong.
The Golden Knights continued the second period assault, as Mitch Marner and Mark Stone came just inches away from tucking one past Allen. The Devils goaltender thwarted away another big chance just seconds later on a deflection from Brayden McNabb.
New Jersey withstood the pressure and broke the ice through a forecheck and subsequent pretty one-on-one move from Brown just under five minutes into the period. It was Brown’s eighth of the season and second of his last three games as he and Cody Glass continue their line’s formidable partnership, even in the absence of Arseny Gritsyuk.
Hischier was flying his way through the second period with five shots through 11:21 of ice time. The Devils captain set up New Jersey’s second power play of the game after drawing a trip from Marner with 4:43 to go in the middle frame.
The best look of the power play, however, belonged to Vegas’ Brandon Saad, who took advantage of a weak Luke Hughes pass that ended in a breakaway save from Allen.
The Golden Knights went on the power play immediately after the Devils, but the best look came short handed yet again, with Hischier pickpocketing Marner before firing another great opportunity wide.
The period ended with the Golden Knights piling on pressure in the Devils’ end, but Allen and New Jersey got to the break with the 1-0 lead.
The Golden Knights outshot the Devils 15-12 in a much more open second frame, giving them the 27-20 shot advantage after 40 minutes.
Third Period
The Devils and Golden Knights traded chances through the first four minutes of the third, the best of which came New Jersey’s way as Hischier nearly set up a doorstep opportunity for Dawson Mercer who couldn’t redirect the puck back on frame.
The Golden Knights did not go down quietly, forcing Allen to make big stop after big stop. The 35-year-old denied Saad on the doorstep at the seven-minute mark for his best save of the period.
Allen went on to make key stops on Marner at the 11-minute mark and later on Hutton with eight minutes to go. The Eichel-less Golden Knights had no answer for the Devils netminder.
That is, until Juho Lammikko took a tripping penalty with 4:58 to go and Dorofeyev fired an open one-timer past a helpless Allen, his ninth power play goal of the season and 14th overall. Stone picked up the crucial assist with 4:11 to go in regulation.
New Jersey actually outshot Vegas 11-9 in the final frame. To overtime, we go.
Overtime
Neither side looked all that dangerous early in the overtime period, as Vegas’s best chance came from an Ivan Barbashev power move that didn’t cause much trouble. New Jersey’s best early look fell to Hughes, who fired an open look right into the midsection of Hart.
A two-on-one chance for Tomas Hertl was be denied by Allen before Jesper Bratt could spark the Devils on an odd-man rush the other way that also did not find the net.
However, the game saw its nerviest moment for New Jersey as Mercer took a penalty for hooking on Stone with 1:57 to play in overtime. New Jersey finished the overtime period down three-on-four.
Not only did the Golden Knights bombard Allen with rubber, but they hit three posts, including on a trickling Hertl deflection with just 20 seconds to go.
The Devils survived the onslaught and the game went to a shootout. A big bounce-back from Pesce and the New Jersey penalty kill after letting one slip late in the third.
The final shot tally went to the Golden Knights, 37-33, after 65 minutes of hockey.
Shootout
Breakaway specialist and former Golden Knight Paul Cotter opened up the shootout for the Devils but was denied by Hart.
Dorofeyev shot first for Vegas, but his wrister was stymied with a flash of the glove by Allen.
Bratt shot second for New Jersey and gave the Devils the lead with a nasty backhand that beat Hart up high. 1-0 New Jersey halfway through the shootout.
Stone shot second for the Golden Knights but found the same result as his predecessor, a wrist shot into the glove of Allen.
Dougie Hamilton was denied on what would have iced the game for New Jersey, a half-hearted effort that Hart was able to turn aside.
In the bottom of the third, Marner thought he scored the shootout equalizer but was ruled to have touched the puck twice on its way in, as a well-timed poke-check from Allen ricocheted the puck into Marner’s skate. Allen’s poke check was not only successful, but immediately recognized by the officials on the ice, and the Devils picked up a huge two points on the road.
Allen was certainly New Jersey’s best performer on the night, but it’s no coincidence that the Devils put up such a great defensive effort in Pesce’s first game back. The 30-year-old clocked 23:58 TOI in his return to the ice, playing like he had missed no time next to Hughes on defense.
New Jersey improves to 9-1-0 on the season with Pesce in the lineup.
The Devils will stay out west for their next game, a Friday night tilt in Utah to take on the Mammoth. It will be the first matchup between the Devils and Mammoth since they officially rebranded from the Utah Hockey Club ahead of the 2025-26 season.
