The New Jersey Devils have won three games in a row for the first time since November after defeating the Vancouver Canucks 5-4 on Friday night at Rogers Arena.
They have won five of their last six games and are a perfect 3-0-0 so far on their Pacific Northwest road trip with one more game to go.
It was Lenni Hämeenaho’s night, as the Finnish winger opened the scoring early with his first career NHL goal in just his third game with the Devils. Nico Hischier, Cody Glass and Connor Brown added goals in the second period, while Linus Karlsson, Teddy Blueger, Zeev Buium and Brock Boeser scored for the Canucks.
Glass tallied another in the third that would eventually become the winner. With two goals and an assist, he recorded his second career three-point night.
Jacob Markstrom got the nod for New Jersey, his fourth start in the last five games. Markstrom returned to the net after Jake Allen took over in the Devils’ last game on Tuesday night, a 2-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. He moved to 14-11-1 on the year with the victory.
Kevin Lankinen made his 25th start of the season on the opposite end for Vancouver, seeing more minutes than expected this year due to Thatcher Demko’s injury. With the loss, Lankinen’s record worsened to 7-15-4.
Demko was one of three unavailable Canucks on Friday night, joined by veteran defenseman Derek Forbort and center Marco Rossi. Returning from injury to face the Devils, though, was 26-year-old Filip Chytil, who played in his first game since suffering a concussion on Oct. 19.
The Devils’ disabled list remains the same as it did on Tuesday, with Luke Hughes, Stefan Noesen and Zack MacEwen all out due to injury.
First Period
The Devils wasted no time getting on the board, as the 21-year-old Hämeenaho tapped home a juicy backboard rebound for the game’s opening goal just 1:41 into the game. Simon Nemec and Cody Glass got credit for the assists, setting up the goal with great anticipation off a solid faceoff play.
The best chances in the remainder of the period would fall Vancouver’s way, their first great look coming of the stick of Filip Chytil five minutes in. The Czech center had what looked like a wide-open look on the doorstep but fired it wide.
The Devils’ puck luck continued through the first, especially at the halfway point of the period when Jonas Siegenthaler gave the puck right to Boeser in front of the net, but the Burnsville, MN native fired it wide. Frankly, it was a mistake that deserved to be punished, but New Jersey got away with it.
12 minutes through the first, the Devils led the Canucks in shots 5-2, but Vancouver’s two best looks missed the net.
The first penalty of the game came at 5:37, as Jesper Bratt tripped up Elias Pettersson following a promising offensive rush.
It preempted a solid powerplay from the Canucks, but the Devils continued to look strong on the kill as they have done lately, killing off penalty No. 22 of their last 25 (88%) to that point.
The Canucks continued to push in transition, with Blueger firing off a quick shot that Connor Garland nearly deflected past Markstrom with two minutes to go in the first. It was one of several late rush chances for Vancouver that the former Canuck had to be strong on.
After managing a final siege from the Canucks, Markstorm and the Devils went into the first intermission with the 1-0 lead. They had the 8-7 edge over Vancouver in shots after 20.
Second Period
The Devils once again started the period strongly, registering four shots in the first 1:07 the frame, three of which came in the high slot by Hischier, Timo Meier and Jack Hughes.
The Devils got their first powerplay opportunity of the night at 18:04 when Canucks defenseman Tom Willander tripped Arseny Gritsyuk. Already having the momentum in the period, New Jersey quickly found the net.
38 seconds into the powerplay, Hischier scored his team-leading 16th of the season with a one-timer on a quick feed from Hughes. The Devils had a 2-0 lead with 17:26 to go in the period.
And while the snow might be hitting New Jersey on Sunday, it started to pour in Vancouver. Just 40 seconds after Hischier’s tally, Glass tipped a Hämeenaho point-shot past Lankinen to increase the Devils’ lead to three.
The Gritsyuk-Glass-Hämeenaho line had an imprint on all three goals to this point, which is especially impressive after being responsible for both of New Jersey’s goals on Tuesday. Hämeenaho’s assist was his second career NHL point following his goal in the first.
The Devils outshot the Canucks 7-0 through the first 3:35 of the second period.
Markstrom was finally called into action in the second when Jake DeBrusk crept his way to the front of the net at 11:53, but the Swedish netminder swept his attempt aside.
The Canucks would get on the board just a minute later, though, when Linus Karlsson followed up on a Nils Hoglander shot and slapped the loose puck past Markstrom.
Following the goal, the Devils got another chance on the powerplay as Garland picked up a double minor for high-sticking Hischier at 8:30. It did not start well.
Bratt ran into trouble trying to handle the puck on top of the zone, but coughed it up to Drew O’Connor who led a three-on-one charge the other way. O’Connor set up Blueger for a shorthanded goal with just over eight minutes to play in the period, his second of the season. It was the first shorthanded goal the Devils conceded all year and, suddenly, the momentum shifted to Vancouver. 3-2.
New Jersey recovered in the second half of the double minor, as Connor Brown snapped home a shot from the net front position for his first goal in 15 games at 4:48. Brown’s crucial goal made it 4-2 and the Devils avoided a complete unraveling late in the second.
The Canucks didn’t go out of the period quietly, though, as Buium cut his way through the Devils end before following up on his own rebound to beat Markstrom at 1:38. Once again, the Canucks had the momentum.
For a moment, it looked like Vancouver had found an equalizer off the stick of Evander Kane with 15 seconds to go. His shot connected with the inside of the post and trickled across the goal line but never made its way in, despite the goal lights coming on at Rogers Arena.
The period came to an end with the score 4-3 in favor of New Jersey. They led in shots 13-10 in the second frame and 21-17 through 40 minutes.
Third Period
The third period started slowly as the Devils tightened things up defensively. The third period essentially followed the same pattern as New Jersey’s win over Edmonton on Tuesday, with the Devils not focused on registering shots but more so on making sure that they kept the Canucks out.
Chances were few and far between for both sides in the early goings, but eventually, the Canucks would get another chance on the powerplay. At 12:32, Evgenii Dadonov tripped O’Connor to give Vancouver the man advantage.
Pressure began to mount on the Devils, but the penalty kill held strong and dispatched their tenth opposition powerplay in a row. For the first time in a while, momentum had shifted back towards New Jersey.
And the Devils would make use of that momentum change, as Meier sprang Glass forward and the third line centerman continued his excellent form, poking the puck through Lankinen and into the net for his second of the game at 8:57.
It was Glass’s sixth goal in his last seven games, and he now is tied for second-most goals on the team with 13. It was the Devils’ first shot of the period, and it gave the Devils a two-goal lead again, 5-3.
Hämeenaho nearly provided the dagger on a clear-cut breakaway with five minutes to go, but his wrist shot was blockered aside by Lankinen.
Canucks head coach Adam Foote pulled Lankinen with just under four minutes to go. The Canucks applied heavy pressure and forced the Devils defense to work.
It looked like New Jersey was going to score on the empty net on at least four separate occassions, but near misses by Bratt and Brown allowed the Canucks back into the game.
Just as the crowd was feeding off the missed empty net chances, Boeser cut the lead in half with 1:12 to go, a rebound off the pad of Markstrom.
Seconds later, Hischier once again looked like he had a point-blank empty net chance but couldn’t get a shot away. Another empty net chance for Gritsyuk would be deflected wide.
Still, the Devils hung on for dear life and got out of Vancouver with two points with the 5-4 win. Utter insanity at the end.
They were outshot 8-3 in the final frame and ultimately outshot on the night 25-24.
It was another narrow victory for New Jersey, requiring all hands on deck to push it over the finish line. Each of the last four wins for the Devils have been achieved by just a one-goal margin, but in their last three, they’ve found a way.
There are areas to improve, mistakes to be avoided and sure, they could use some more scoring help from their top guys (Hughes has gone 16 games without scoring), but the vibes are as high as they’ve been since November. They will need to keep those vibes up for a chance at clawing back into the playoff picture.
With the win, the Devils remain in fifth in the Metropolitan Division with 56 points, three points behind the New York Islanders in third. They’ll have another chance to climb their way back up the standings when they take the ice on Sunday at 3pm EST against the Seattle Kraken, their final game of the road trip.
