The New Jersey Devils were in dire need of a victory after head coach Lindy Ruff essentially chewed out the entire team early this week.
They delivered in a big way – a 5-4 overtime victory over the New York Islanders. Jack Hughes, as part of his second career four-point night, roofed a puck past Ilya Sorokin in the three-on-three session to win it.
With some new line shakeups being debuted, it was essential for the Devils to come out flying early, and they did. For the first time this season, they outshot an opponent in the first frame (13-8).
That set the stage for the offense to do what it does best, which is dominating even-strength play. Their 58 chances were significantly more than the Islanders’ 34, good for a Corsi percentage of 63.04%. (via Natural Stat Trick)
Even though it’s only been four games, a return to five-on-five domination was overdue for the Devils, a team that controlled the pace for almost the entirety of last season.
While some occasional defensive breakdowns and the Islanders’ finishing luck kept the game closer than it should have been, the Devils deserved two full points.
Here are the biggest takeaways from the contest:
Nico Hischier is Hurt
In a night filled with so much good for the Devils, there was some bad as captain Nico Hischier went down with an upper-body injury.
The incident appeared to occur around the 16-minute mark of the second period, where Hischier tried to duck under a hit from Ryan Pulock and got crunched along the boards. It seemed that his shoulder/head area was the first to make contact with the boards, though the hit was clean.
Hischier went on to finish the rest of the second and actually had a pretty good game (prior to injury) overall. He led the team in Corsi by a wide margin, as chances were a whopping 20-to-three (86.96%) for the Devils. He was over 61% in the face-off circle, and he showcased improved confidence and strength before he went down.
Unfortunately, he did not appear on the bench for the third period. He is now the second Devil this week to play through the remainder of a period with an upper-body injury (Erik Haula) but then miss time afterward.
The captain is the heart and soul of this Devils team, so it certainly hurts to see him go down, especially when he was finally hitting his stride.
According to Ruff, he will be re-evaluated on Saturday (Oct. 21).
Powerplay Continues to Shine
If the preseason was any indication of future success, the Devils were going to have a historically great year on the man advantage.
It sure has looked like it thus far. The Devils’ powerplay went an incredible four for five (80%) at UBS Arena, single-handedly propelling them past the Islanders.
The elite talent on both units was on full display. Much to the pleasure of fans, the Devils’ shoot-first mentality has been a large contributor to their early achievements:
It started late in the first when Dougie Hamilton one-timed a perfect feed from Timo Meier past Sorokin to knot the game at one. That’s already Hamilton’s third goal of the season and the second on the power play. So far, he’s played like his career-best 74 points last season was not a fluke. Oh yeah, and he’s not even on the first power play unit. That’s how loaded these units currently are.
Offseason acquisition Tyler Toffoli then got his first in the red and black as he sniped one past Sorokin early in the second period. The 34-goal scorer from last season has looked great in the early going, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see more shots start finding twine as he gets acclimated to Ruff’s system.
Related: Devils Look to Spark Offense With Line Shakeup
With all the hype surrounding J. Hughes, it was his younger brother Luke who cashed in later in the second. He wired a slapshot through traffic that found its way past Sorokin. That was Luke’s first goal of the season and only the second of his young career. He’ll be a staple of the Devils’ man advantage for a long time.
And of course, as per usual, J. Hughes had to cash in as well. He drove to the net and tapped in an excellent pass from Ondrej Palat to put the Devils ahead by one in the third.
The Devils’ power play now stands at second in the NHL with an impressive 42.9% conversion rate. They’re quickly becoming a squad that teams need to grip their sticks a little tighter against, in fear that they’ll take a penalty and get burned.
For as good as the Devils were last season, their powerplay was mediocre. Thus, this is certainly a breath of fresh air for the team, as it somewhat feels like the missing piece of a puzzle.
Jack Hughes is Incredible
J. Hughes, with his confident swagger, has been the best player in the world so far this season. His four points (two goals, two assists) in last night’s game have helped solidify that early case.
He now has ten points in four games, which leads the entire NHL by two. It’s not just the fact that he’s notching all those points, but it’s how he’s doing it that is so scary to opponents.
He completes no-look passes with ease, having an almost sixth sense that knows where his teammates are without having to bat an eye.
He can cut towards the middle of the ice, then stop on a dime and wire a shot past even the best of goaltenders in the blink of an eye. That’s exactly what happened in the overtime goal. He took the puck into the zone one-on-three, lulled the defenders to sleep, and in the time it takes to snap your fingers, the game was over.
His electrifying talent is a big reason that former Devil and current television analyst, PK Subban, is already campaigning for J. Hughes to be in MVP considerations.
He’s the type of player that can single-handedly beat a team for you when the rest of your team is off. Without him, the Devils’ respectable 2-1-1 record might look way worse.
Honorable Mention – Timo Meier
Meier needed to respond with a good game after being benched on Monday (Oct. 16) for the entire third period, except one shift.
He was previously the worst on the team by far in Corsi, generating near-zero offense while giving up a ton. He responded with a game where the team generated way more offense (63.16%) with him on the ice. The result was his first two points of the season – both assists. Meier was playing much stronger on the puck and shied away from taking bad penalties at bad times, which is what got him benched initially.
“I loved Timo’s game (tonight)…I thought he used his size, skated well. That’s the Timo Meier we need.”
– Lindy Ruff
Friday night’s game was a huge breath of fresh air for Meier, who has traditionally started seasons slow before heating up around November.
Much Needed
Overall, this outcome was much needed for the Devils. With such high expectations coming into the season, they need to be able to continue to put away tough games as they did last season. Especially in such a tough division, every single point matters.
First-period starts will continue to be a trend that is closely analyzed, as the Devils still have not scored the first goal of a game yet. However, dominating even-strength play like they did against the Islanders is a very positive sign of what’s to come.
They’ll look to improve to 3-1-1 in Montreal on Tuesday night (Oct. 24).