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Two Wins Tucked Away: Mercer Powers Devils to Victory Ahead of Home Opener

  Photo: Andrew MacLean The New Jersey Devils survived a chaotic, late-game flurry in Columbus to secure their second straight victory on Monday night, defeating the Blue Jackets 3-2 to cap off their opening road trip. The star of the dramatic finish was forward Dawson Mercer, who netted a pair of goals—including the decisive empty-net marker—that momentarily gave the Devils a two-goal cushion before the Blue Jackets scored with 20 seconds left to keep the tension high until the final horn. Having collected four points out of a possible six on the road, New Jersey now turns its focus to the familiar roar of the Prudential Center crowd. The team finally heads home to Newark, where they will open their home slate on Thursday night with a pivotal early-season clash against the formidable Florida Panthers. New Jersey Devils Lineup: Palat - Hughes - Bratt Meier - Hischier - Mercer Gritsyuk - Glass - Brown Cotter - Glendening - Halonen Hughes - Pesce Siegenthaler - Hamilton Dillon - Neme...

Casey DeSmith Wins First Game Since January, Canucks Defeated Anaheim 2-1 3/3/24

 




*Sorry for the lack of photos! Hoping to get permission eventually.*


   Casey DeSmith hasn't played since February 19th when he allowed eight goals on 25 shots in Vancouver's 10-7 loss against the Minnesota Wild. This had been his first win since January 9th against the New York Islanders. The Canucks broke their two-game skid, and the Anaheim Ducks broke their two-game win streak following a three-game skid. DeSmith made a total of 17 saves for Vancouver in their 2-1 victory at the Honda Center on Sunday, March 3rd.


Canucks lineup against the Ducks:

 Mikheyev - Miller - Boeser

Hoglander - Pettersson - Suter

Podkolzin - Lindholm - Garland

Di Giuseppe - Blueger - Lafferty


Hughes - Hronek

Zadorov - Juulsen

Cole - Friedman


DeSmith

Demko


Ducks lineup against the Canucks:

Jones - Henrique - Killorn

Vatrano - Strome - Terry

Lundestrom - Carrick - Silfverberg

Johnston - Groulx - Leason


Fowler - Zellweger

Mintyukov - Gudas

Vaakanainen - Lindstrom


Dostal

Stalock


   Beginning the scoring fast into the first period at 18:23, Nils Hoglander recorded his 19th goal of the season for that 1-0 lead for Vancouver. Hoglander received a backhanded centering pass from above the goal line from Quinn Hughes, who had carried the puck through the right face-off circle before the centering pass... Hoglander scored from the slot, glove side. Alex Killorn tied it 1-1 at 15:45 after the puck had slid back to him and he knocked it into the net at the bottom of the right circle. Originally, Killorn left a drop pass for Max Jones, who attempted a wrist shot but Pius Suter battered the puck off his stick. The Canucks outshot Anaheim 15-3 in the first frame.


   Conor Garland put Vancouver ahead 2-1 at 16:26 of the second period with his 12th of the season. He redirected off a feed from Nikita Zadorov just 11 seconds after a penalty had expired. Prior to the goal, the Ducks were killing back-to-back penalties that had ranged over the first and second. Garland's goal was the only one scored in the middle frame and the score remained through the third for a 2-1 final.




Casey DeSmith on his first win since January, overall, the victory for the team: "I don't know if I've ever been so happy to win a game. Obviously, personally, it feels really good to kind of get off the skid but also for the team, it's a huge win for the team to start off this road trip on the right foot. After a couple tough losses, it just feels really good in here right now. Every team in this league is good, so that's a good one for us."




Notes:

- The Canucks won six in a row against the Anaheim Ducks.

- J.T. Miller's assist on Conor Garland's goal extended his point streak to seven games (six goals, seven assists)

- Vasily Podkolzin was recalled from the AHL on Saturday... He played 12:39 in his season debut.

- Mark Friedman took the place of Tyler Myers, who has a lower-body injury, after being a healthy scratch the previous eight games. Friedman had one hit and one shot in 12:54.

- Lukas Dostal made a total of 29 saves for Anaheim... John Gibson had been unable to play due to illness so, Alex Stalock was recalled from the AHL as a backup for Dostal.

- Cam Fowler made his return after sustaining a facial laceration against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday... missing the 4-3 victory against the New Jersey Devils.

- Mason McTavish was unable to play due to the lower-body injury he sustained in the first period against the New Jersey Devils... Leo Carlsson had missed his second game straight after he had sustained a lower-body injury against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday.






Postgame: Conor Garland

Postgame: Rick Tocchet

 

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