The New Jersey Devils visited the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday evening, their first and only visit this season. Leading the Metropolitan Division, the Devils sat at a 9-3-0 record going into the game and came off a victory over the Los Angeles Kings the night prior. The Ducks would be looking for their third straight win and would need to fight hard against a dominant squad.
First Period
The scoring started less than five minutes into the game when Beckett Sennecke got a breakaway and was able to push the puck past Jake Allen, giving the Ducks the early lead. Teammates Cutter Gauthier and Ryan Poehling assisted Sennecke. The first goal scorer of the game also took the game’s first penalty for holding Jack Hughes. The Devils were unable to score on their power play, and Troy Terry had a breakaway and a near miss for the shorthanded Ducks.
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With just over five minutes left in the period, Frank Vatrano scored his first goal of the season and the second goal for the Ducks after a diving pass from Jackson LaCombe, putting the Ducks up 2-0. Quickly after, the Devils took their first penalty when a tripping minor was assessed on Luke Hughes. With just nine shots on goal, the Ducks took the lead heading into the first intermission. The Devils had 12 and needed to refine their game to secure a win.
Second Period
The Ducks were off to a hot start in the second period when Gauthier found the back of the net just two minutes into play. Jacob Trouba and Sennecke assisted on the goal. After the Ducks’ goal, the remainder of the period passed with very little fanfare, just the two teams trading shots on goal.
The Devils finished with an additional nine shots on goal and just one shot in the final 11 minutes of the period. The Ducks registered another nine shots and were slightly dominant in the faceoff circle. Anaheim looked like a much stronger, faster, and more physical team than New Jersey, and there was a lot of work to be done by the latter to make a dent in the Ducks’ lead and avoid being shut out.
Third Period
With no goals after six minutes passed in the period, a scrum broke out between Dawson Mercer and Jansen Harkins after Harkins laid a big hit to the boards on Devils captain Nico Hischier. Mercer was the only player sent to the box with a roughing minor, and the Ducks were on a power play. The Devils were able to kill the penalty with ease and shortly after, avoid being shut out. Jack Hughes was finally able to get one past Lukas Dostal, his tenth of the season. Mercer and Timo Meier assisted on the first marker.
Down 3-1, the Devils played with an empty net with three and a half minutes remaining in the game. While it was a valiant last-ditch effort, Anaheim was able to get possession of the puck, and Chris Krieder took it coast-to-coast to score on the unmanned net. Carlsson earned his sixth straight scoring game of the season with the primary assist, and Pavel Mintyukov notched one, as well. The teams each registered 12 shots on goal in the third period, but Dostal stood strong and earned the win for his team.
The Ducks took a valiant victory over the top team in the Metro and will be on the hunt for a win against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. The Devils will head home to rest and regroup before facing the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
