Hamilton’s Power Play Double Drives Devils to 7th Straight Win Over Sharks, 3-1

 

Photo: Andrew MacLean

The New Jersey Devils’ white-hot start to the season shows no signs of cooling off. Spearheaded by a spectacular two-goal performance from star defenseman Dougie Hamilton, the Devils defeated the San Jose Sharks tonight, 3-1, extending their franchise-best early-season winning streak to seven games. Hamilton was the engine, scoring two nearly identical power-play goals in the second period, reversing an early 1-0 deficit after the Sharks briefly took the lead. Goaltender Jake Allen was solid in net, and Connor Brown sealed the dominant performance with a late empty-netter. The consistent victories cement the Devils' status as a dominant force in the Metropolitan Division, boasting the longest current winning run in the NHL.

San Jose Sharks Lineup:

Toffoli - Celebrini - Smith

Skinner - Wennberg - Eklund

Graf - Kurashev - Gaudette

Goodrow - Dellandrea - Reaves

Orlov - Liljegren

Ferraro - Iorio

Dickinson - Desharnias

Askarov

New Jersey Devils Lineup:

Palat - Hughes - Bratt

Meier - Hischier - Gritsyuk

Cotter - Mercer - Brown

Noesen - Glendening - Halonen

Hughes - Pesce

Siegenthaler - Hamilton

Dillon - Nemec

Allen

Daws

William Eklund found the back of the net for his second goal of the season, opening the scoring to put the Sharks ahead 1-0 early in the first period at 17:35 with a power-play goal. He took a pass from Macklin Celebrini, who took a pass from Eklund just before the goal, to score on a snap shot from low in the right face-off circle.

Only 40 seconds into the middle frame, Dougie Hamilton tied it 1-1 on the power play when he scored on a wrist shot from the slot. He took a pass from Jack Hughes, who was along the left wall, and he passed it to Jesper Bratt on the right, who sent it up to Nico Hischier, who was on the right side of the net and attempted to get it in through, but it bounced out to Hamilton. It appeared that San Jose got a 2-1 lead at 18:09 of the second when Jeff Skinner tipped in a loose puck along the goal line; however, the Devils successfully challenged for off-sides on Alexander Wennberg. Hamilton struck again for his second of the night, third of the season, to get New Jersey back in front 2-1 with a power-play goal after he took a pass from behind the Sharks' net by Jack Hughes for a snap shot from the high slot.

Connor Brown put in his fourth goal of the season when he struck the empty Sharks net for the 3-1 final with just 47 seconds left to play in the third.

Notes:

- Dougie Hamilton had a three-point night, picking up a pair of goals and one assist. Nico Hischier recorded three assists. Connor Brown has three points in the past five games (two goals, one assist). ...Hamilton has found the back of the net twice in a game 11 times throughout his NHL career, including three games with power-play goals.

- In his fourth start in five games for New Jersey (7-1-0), Jake Allen made a total of 16 saves. ...In the third period, Allen made 10 saves, the most stunning coming when he stopped Adam Gaudette's point-blank shot in the slot at 10:03 and then later on a breakaway attempt by Collin Graf at 4:02.

- In the second period, the Devils outshot the Sharks 13-0, the first time they held the opposition without a shot in a period since Jan. 6, 2017, the third period of a 4-2 loss against the Toronto Maple Leafs.

- The Devils went 2-for-5 on the power play, scoring a power-play goal in six straight games. ...During their win streak, the Devils are 8-for-23 (34.8 percent) on the power play.

- This winning streak is the Devils' longest since winning 13 in a row from Oct. 25 to Nov. 21, 2022.

- Yaroslav Askarov made a total of 27 saves for San Jose. This was Askarov's best effort of the season, entering the game 0-2-1 with a 5.72 goals-against average.

- The Sharks are 1-2-0 during a four-game road trip.

- Michael Misa was a healthy scratch for San Jose on what was labeled "a planned development day" by Warsofsky.

- Macklin Celebrini has extended his point streak to three games with four goals and three assists.