The Devils' four consecutive defeats hung heavy over them, but on Monday, January 6th, they finally shed it, conquering the Seattle Kraken 3-2 to reclaim their winning spirit. Facing a barrage of Kraken attacks, Jacob Markstrom was a wall, denying 21 shots, including a series of jaw-dropping saves that kept the Devils afloat and ultimately secured the crucial victory at Climate Pledge Arena. Dawson Mercer, Paul Cotter, and Ondrej Palat each found the back of the net to help New Jersey end the four-game skid. The Devils look to continue their winning ways on Thursday as they take on their long-time rivals, the New York Rangers, at Madison Square Garden. This had been the third straight loss for Seattle, and they head out to Columbus in search of a win on Thursday.
Devils Lineup:
Palat - Hughes - Bratt
Meier - Hischier - Noesen
Cotter - Dowling - Mercer
Tatar - Lazar - Bastian
Dillon - Hamilton
Siegenthaler - Kovacevic
Hughes - Pesce
Markstrom
Allen
Kraken Lineup:
Schwartz - Beniers - Kakko
McCann - Stephenson - Burakovsky
Tolvanen - Wright - Bjorkstrand
Kartye - Meyers - Tanev
Dunn - Larsson
Oleksiak - Montour
Evans - Mahura
Grubauer
Stezka
Dawson Mercer picked up his 10th goal of the season to open the scoring, putting the Devils ahead 1-0 at 12:04 of the first period. After Nico Hischier, who took a pass from Timo Meier who was at the left boards, shot from just below the left circle, Mercer drove up to the right side of the net and found a Hischier rebound, pulling it around Philipp Grubauer's pad. Later into the opening 20, Adam Larsson knotted it up to 1-1 with 4:13 on the clock. He picked up his second goal of the season when he put his wrist shot behind Jacob Markstrom through traffic from the top of the left circle, hitting off the right post before making it in. Chandler Stephenson picked up the assist on Larsson's goal.
The whole second frame was scoreless until Paul Cotter struck with just seconds left on the clock to take back the lead for New Jersey. Jonathan Kovacevic sent the puck flying into Seattle's zone, and Cotter raced towards it, winning the race to the loose puck and mishandled it, but it ended up rolling through Philipp Grubauer's five-hole and in. This had been Cotter's 10th goal of the season, as well as his third in the past five games.
Shane Wright struck early for the Kraken to tie things back up to 2-2 at 18:36 of the third period. He received a saucer pass from Kaapo Kakko, who took the pass from Jared McCann after some passing back and forth between McCann and Vince Dunn, and Wright one-timed the pass past Jacob Markstrom's glove from the top of the crease. Only 37 seconds later, Ondrej Palat found the back of the net to regain the Devils' lead when he snapped it over Philipp Grubauer's left shoulder after Jack Hughes had found him in the slot off the rush with a feed for the 3-2 final.
Jacob Markstrom on how it feels to come out on the other side: "It's good. It's a big win for our group and I thought we came out, played a really good first 10, got the goal, and then they answered back and pushed back a little bit. Then the second period, I thought we played great, and then they got a power-play goal early, and our response was fantastic. It wasn't always pretty, but you know, it's a huge win. We needed it to just kind of take a couple of breaths here before it's right back on it."
Ondrej Palat on the effort of the way this game went, Jacob Markstrom's performance, and the mentality of scoring that last goal there: "We needed that win. I think we played a good enough game, but there's still room for improvement. They had too many chances. I think that if it wasn't for Marky, it would be a different score. ...Incredible saves. We need to be a little bit better for him," - "The mentality after you score or you give up a goal, the next shift is very important. So, a big goal for us and a big win."
Paul Cotter on the game/win, and how the outcomes of the past few games have felt: "It's a crucial one. It's been a tough road trip in terms of points that we've left. A couple of the games towards the end of them, I think we could have done a better job of just making sure we at least get a point out of it. So, this one was crucial for us... Just to end this road trip, you know, come out of it with something so we can project ourselves in a positive way," - "We know how good of a team we are, so those expectations don't change. Those couple of games in the losing streak, you know, maybe to a team that sucks, but to us, it's crazy frustrating just because we know our potential as a team. So, when we know we have a team like, it's hard seeing those outcomes."
Notes:
- In the third period, Jacob Markstrom had made two desperation saves to preserve the 3-2 victory. He made an incredible glove save on Eeli Tolvanen, and then another with his stick on Matty Beniers.
- Dawson Mercer recorded a goal and picked up an assist, and with his assist on Ondrej Palat's goal, Jack Hughes hit 200 NHL career assists.
- Not only did the Devils put an end to a four-game losing streak, but they also put an end to a five-game road losing streak.
- NJ: 25-15-3, S: 17-20-3, 0-2-1 in their past three games.
- Philipp Grubauer made a total of 26 saves for Seattle.
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