The scorching hot New Jersey Devils needed to do one thing, and one thing only on Friday night.
Avoid the trap.
With the San Jose Sharks in town, a team they haven’t defeated since February 2024, the Devils’ goal was to prove they’re no longer the team who plays down to their competition.
That’s not a slight against the Sharks. They’re a young, exciting team with a plethora of talent. However, the Devils have been described in abundance as “mature” all season long. Extending their win-streak to seven games would just further solidify that narrative.
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Although it wasn’t pretty, the Devils did just that.
First Period
The Devils got off to an unfortunate start as just 1:11 into the opening frame, Nico Hischier was whistled for a tripping minor. New Jersey’s penalty kill unit has been immaculate, killing 100% of their last 21 penalties. However, that string of strong play ended on Friday.
The Sharks entered the Devils’ zone on a bit of a broken play. When the puck trickled to the bottom of the right circle, William Eklund found the loose puck with no pressure applied, and beat Jake Allen to put the Devils behind 1-0.
For the ensuing six minutes at even strength, the Devils had no answer for the Sharks’ pressuring offense. In fact, San Jose believed they scored on the stick of Philipp Kurashev. However, the officials called the play back, as the puck was played with a high stick.
The Devils took some momentum back after Adam Gaudette was assessed a hooking minor on Paul Cotter. The Devils’ power play accrued plenty of chances, however, Yaroslav Askarov made several aggressive saves, including a sprawling, post-to-post save, taking a wide-open net chance away from Nico Hischier.
Before the period could end, Timo Meier drew a second penalty against Dmitry Orlov and sent the Sharks back to the PK.
The period ended in the middle of the Devils’ power play, however. New Jersey went into the second period with 1:07 remaining on the man advantage.
Second Period
The Devils won the opening draw of the second and quickly gained access to the Sharks’ zone. They applied quick pressure to Askarov with just over a minute left on the penalty kill, and Dougie Hamilton tied the game just 40 seconds after the puck dropped.
However, it wasn’t long before San Jose regained their two-goal lead. Or so they thought. Alexander Wennberg snuck behind the Devils’ defense, and was sprung for a breakaway. Allen made the initial save, and Jeff Skinner pushed the puck over the goal line.
Yet, Sheldon Keefe challenged the goal for offsides when Wennberg entered the zone, and won, keeping the game knotted at one.
Seven minutes into the second period, Dawson Mercer drew a hooking penalty against Skinner, sending New Jersey to their third power play.
After much cycling the puck and offensive pressure, Jack Hughes fed Hamilton from below the goal line, and the Devils defenseman scored his second power play goal of the night.
After Vincent Iorio and Vincent Desharnais took consecutive penalties, the Devils went to a 5-on-3 advantage. And although the pressured the Sharks with opportunities, San Jose ultimately killed both penalties, stopping the Devils from extending their one-goal lead.
The clock ran down for the second period, and the Devils went into the second intermission holding a 2-1 lead. The Devils did not allow the Sharks a single shot on goal in the middle frame.
Third Period
After the Devils stifled the Sharks in the second period, San Jose got off to a stronger start in the third.
Eventually, the Sharks’ pressure sent Meier to the penalty box via a slashing minor on Timothy Liljegren. Yet, Allen and the Devils penalty killers were able to maintain their one-goal lead.
With four minutes left in the period, Colin Graf got in on a breakaway all alone. However, Allen gloved down the Sharks rookie shot, as New Jersey continually fought off San Jose to maintain their lead.
The Sharks pulled their goaltender with under a minute on the board, and Connor Brown deposited the empty-net goal to solidify the Devils win, their seventh in a row.
Allen made 16 saves on 17 shots and earned the win.
