The New Jersey Devils returned to action on Wednesday evening (Dec. 13) in a tough matchup against the Boston Bruins, one of the hottest teams in the league. Forward Erik Haula returned after missing a couple contests due to injury. Boston was without Charlie McAvoy and Pavel Zacha due to injuries. In a low-scoring affair, Jack Hughes pulled through with an overtime winner to give the Devils a 2-1 victory and improve their record to 15-11-1.
Vitek Plays Well
After a solid showing in Calgary on Saturday (Dec. 9), the Devils were hoping that Vitek Vanecek could continue to ride that wave and begin to turn in repeated quality starts.
Boston’s first goal of the game was a microcosm of how it’s been for Vanecek all season. A shot from James van Riemsdyk was bobbled and pushed right into the slot for Morgan Geekie to corral the puck and bury it into an empty net.
It’s unfair to say Vanecek has been a bad goalie overall; he’s made some athletic and difficult saves all season. It feels like a majority of the goals – like that one – are directly because of horrendous rebound control.
But after that early goal, his rebound control improved and he completely shut the door. For really the first time this season, he came up with every key save when needed and didn’t let the game snowball away.
The result was a 23-save, one-goal performance…good for a .958 save percentage (SV%). It was the highest save percentage he’s had in any of his 18 appearances this season.
It’s baby steps, but he’s stopped 43 of 46 (.934 SV%) over his last two starts. And Vanecek was certainly pleased: “That was a huge game. We absolutely needed this game…(I’m) feeling good.” When you’re hot you’re hot; Vanecek had the secondary assist on Jack Hughes’ game-winning goal. If he’s able to get back to last season’s form, it would mean the world for the Devils.
Bahl & Marino Shut it Down
A big part of the reason the Devils beat the New York Rangers in last year’s playoffs was the stellar play of John Marino and Kevin Bahl. The pairing looked great together in the preseason, but had yet to fully find their footing…until Wednesday night.
Marino and Bahl, respectively, were the top two on the team in expected goals-for-percentage (xGF%). They were just ahead of Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes in that category (via Natural Stat Trick). And the fact that they were succeeding primarily against David Pastrnak’s line made it so much sweeter.
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When The Hockey Writers asked head coach Lindy Ruff about their play, he was very complimentary: “They defended (Boston’s) top guys pretty well…I liked Johnny a lot because he got up a lot on the offensive side…(and) Kevin’s stick was good in a lot of situations to deny opportunities.”
As a whole, the Devils’ defense has really shined since their recent Western Canada road trip. After the game, Jack Hughes said: “We’re playing a better brand of hockey and giving up less goals.”
Ruff also added: “That might have been old-time Jersey hockey, where you win a game 2-1.”
If they’re able to get consistently good efforts from this pairing, as well as from Simon Nemec in Dougie Hamilton’s absence, they’re in an excellent position.
Much Needed Boost for Jack Hughes
Hughes, for his standards, has really struggled lately. In the three games prior, he was held without a point – his longest drought of the season.
On Wednesday night, he looked out of sync again and in danger of having a fourth straight point-less game. His passes were often getting intercepted, and he was frequently running into traffic and losing the puck. In one instance, he even accidentally ran into his brother, Luke, and went tumbling onto the ice. And he didn’t have a single shot-on-goal until later in the third.
In the third period, he made a terrible pass that went right to Pastrnak’s tape and sent him on a breakaway. Fortunately, he missed the net.
Ruff brought that play up afterwards: “We spent a lot of time talking about…simplifying our game. That pass into the middle of the ice almost cost us in the third period. That isn’t simple.”
But, as superstars do, they bail their team out when they need to. And that is exactly what Hughes did in overtime, as he roofed a puck past Jeremy Swayman to give the Devils a massive victory over a tough Bruins team.
There were moments during the game when it seemed that Hughes got increasingly frustrated. At one point, he slammed his stick into the bench after his shift.
Hopefully, this goal will snap him out of his mini-funk and get him back in a groove. Even with that stretch, he still stands at a whopping 34 points in just 22 games.
About midway through the contest, Ruff put him back together with Jesper Bratt. They’ve historically played well together and Hughes seemed to be advocating for it to stay that way: “We haven’t gotten to play together much in the last month…but when we play together it’s like peanut butter and jelly.”
So it’s no surprise that Hughes’ game-winner was off a feed from Bratt.
Big Win
The Metropolitan Division continues to be as jam-packed as ever. The Devils currently sit in fifth place with 31 points, which is tied with both the Washington Capitals (4th place) and Carolina Hurricanes (6th place).
They’re two points behind the Philadelphia Flyers for the third-place playoff spot, with a game in hand. So every single game is of utmost importance, and pulling out a win against an exceptional opponent was vital. They have two very winnable contests coming up next, but remember…their game against San Jose was once deemed “very winnable”.
They head to Columbus to take on the Blue Jackets on Saturday (Dec. 16) before flying back home immediately to take on the Anaheim Ducks (Dec. 17). Getting four points in that stretch would put the Devils in a really good spot.
