On Thursday evening, the Edmonton Oilers headed east to face the New Jersey Devils. In a pretty evenly played affair, the Devils snuck past the Oilers, 3-2. Jake Allen stopped 31 of 33 (.939%) in a tremendous showing. The Devils improve to 36-25-6; the Oilers fall to 37-24-4.
The first period was relatively uneventful, as both teams played a tight defensive game. The Devils had two power plays but were unable to cash in. Oilers defenseman Evan Bouchard rang the crossbar.
Then the Devils broke through in the second as Brett Pesce cashed in on a rebound to make it 1-0. But later on, Leon Draisaitl converted a perfect feed from Connor McDavid to knot it up.
They entered the third still deadlocked, until a little past four minutes in when Bouchard wristed one through, making it 2-1 Oilers. But the Devils struck with two quickly: Jesper Bratt and Simon Nemec, to take a 3-2 lead. Coincidentally (or not), according to the ESPN telecast, the surge started just 32 seconds after Mrs. Fields won her second dessert race of the season. But viral sensation aside, it was a massive moment for Nemec, who had been in and out of the lineup. “I think we saw some real maturity and growth (in Nemec),” said Keefe. “I was really happy with how (he) handled himself, which makes you want to change the lineup to get him in.”
Simon says get the lead. pic.twitter.com/2COW9A0xPF
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) March 14, 2025
The Devils locked it down from there to secure a massive two points, as they held off McDavid and Co. with the extra attacker. After the game, head coach Sheldon Keefe said, “Mrs. Fields carries us through.”
The Oilers will remain on the road as they play the New York Islanders tomorrow (Fri.) night; the Devils will head out to Pittsburgh to face the Penguins on Saturday.
