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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...
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Devils Shutout 4-0 By Vasilevskiy And The Lightning

 






   After two incredible wins against the Florida Panthers on Tuesday and Thursday, the Devils took an unfortunate shutout loss when they took on the Tampa Bay Lightning at Amalie Arena on Saturday, November 16th. It had been the third time the Devils were shutout this season so far, first the Calgary Flames (3-0, November 1st) and second the San Jose Sharks (1-0, November 10th). However, it was a great win for the Lightning since they now have won two games straight after being stuck in a four-game losing streak that began on November 1st. This was Andrei Vasilevskiy's second shutout this season and his 36th in his NHL career. The Devils head home to Prudential Center to host the Carolina Hurricanes on Thursday, and the Lightning will be heading to Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins on Tuesday.


Devils Lineup:

Meier - Hischier - Noesen

Palat - Hughes - Bratt

Cotter - Haula - Mercer

MacDermid - Dowling - Tatar


Dillon - Hamilton

Siegenthaler - Kovacevic

Hughes - Pesce


Markstrom

Allen


Lightning Lineup:

Hagel - Cirelli - Kucherov

Guentzel - Paul

Goncalves - Geekie - Chaffee

Girgensons - Glendening - Eyssimont


Hedman - Moser

McDonagh - Cernak

Lillberg - Perbix

Raddysh


Vasilevskiy

Johansson


   Nick Paul struck late in the opening frame to put Tampa Bay ahead 1-0 with 5:33 on the clock when he ripped home his fifth goal of the season. From above the right circle and with Gage Goncalves providing a screen in front of the net, Paul fired it past Jacob Markstrom.


   After no action in the middle frame, Darren Raddysh picked up his first of the season just 39 seconds into the third to make it a 2-0 lead for the Lightning. Anthony Cirelli won a draw in the zone, and then Nikita Kucherov got the puck, sending it to Raddysh, who put a one-timer past Jacob Markstrom from the right circle. Victor Hedman extended it to 3-0 at 12:20 with a power-play goal when he scored on a slap shot from the point. With just a little time remaining in regulation, Cirelli struck New Jersey's empty net for a 4-0 final after Luke Hughes threw his stick out in front of him on a breakaway.





Jacob Markstrom on the Lightning, his save on Nick Paul in the second period, challenges on the power play, and rest: "They played a solid game defensively, we ourselves too. I think it was a really tight game, it would have been nice to get one or two more saves to make it a tighter game in the third - It's one of those times where it's out of just desperation, and being fortunate enough. I wish I could have done that on him in the first instead," - "I thought we did a really good job, to be honest... It's a shot from the point with no tip, and I got to work a little harder to get a read on it and get my eyes on it. So, that's on me. Other than that, I thought our penalty kill did a great job - A long break is good to recover, but teams are coming, points-wise, and we want to keep as many teams as possible behind us. As long as we play, win hard games, and collect points - we're keeping other teams behind us. We got to get back on the win column next game."





Notes:

- Jacob Markstrom made a total of 23 saves for New Jersey.

- Andrei Vasilevskiy made a total of 29 saves for Tampa Bay. ... On Thursday, Vasilevskiy was honored for earning his 300th NHL win during a pre-game ceremony featuring congratulations from Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur and both former Tampa Bay goaltenders, Nikolai Khabibulin and Ben Bishop. ... Vasilevkskiy's 36 shutout wins since his NHL debut in the 2014-15 season are tied for third-most among all goaltenders. He is behind both Marc-Andre Fleury (47) and Connor Hellebuyck (40).

- Both Victor Hedman and Anthony Cirelli recorded a goal and an assist, and Nikita Kucherov picked up a pair of assists, which extended his point streak to seven games (three goals, nine assists). ... Kucherov is one point shy of 900 in his NHL career (331 goals, 568 assists in 741 games). Both Steven Stamkos (555-582: 1137) and Martin St. Louis (365-588: 953) are the only other Tampa Bay Lightning players in their history to reach the mark.











*All photos used by the Tampa Bay Lightning used with permission*


 



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