In Newark, the New Jersey Devils snapped a five-game home skid with a 4-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks, powered by Jake Allen’s 30-save performance. Stefan Noesen contributed a goal and an assist, while Ondrej Palat and Juho Lammikko each added two assists as the Devils improved to 18-13-1 and moved to two wins in their last three games.
"I liked the simplicity of the game, the shots, the tracking back, the reloads, the staying on the hunt and staying on the puck," Noesen said. "You see what we’re capable of when we do that consistently for the full 60 minutes."
This marked New Jersey’s first home win since a 3-2 overtime victory over the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 26.
Ducks forward Troy Terry opened the scoring with a snap shot from the right hash marks after a feed from Leo Carlsson at 13:18 of the first period. Noesen tied it at 16:09, firing from the slot after a backhand feed from behind the net by Lammikko on the right wing.
Anaheim head coach Joel Quenneville noted the team didn’t capitalize in the trenches after the Ducks’ first goal, saying they failed to win battles, generate second chances, or control loose pucks in the hard areas.
Paul Cotter gave the Devils a 2-1 lead with a wrist shot in the slot at 5:52 of the second period, extending his goal streak to three games. He later commented that the Devils regained the swagger and confidence that make them difficult to beat when they play their game with bite.
Cody Glass stretched the lead to 3-1 by snapping home a shot from the high slot at 17:04 of the second. Allen stood tall with 14 third-period saves, including a pad stop on rookie Beckett Sennecke during a 6-on-5 stretch after Dostal was pulled.
Devils coach Sheldon Keefe praised the effort for building better structure and mutual support, which helps everyone play a simpler, more effective game.
Connor Brown added an empty-net goal at 18:00 of the final frame to fix the score at 4-1.
This game came with a bit of extra intrigue, as it was the Devils’ first contest since news of a blockbuster trade that sent Quinn Hughes to Minnesota, a move that sparked reflections on how the team might look with such star power and how the Hughes brothers’ dynamic influences New Jersey.
Notes: Joel Quenneville coached his 1,800th NHL game, becoming the fifth coach to reach the milestone and ranking second all-time in wins with 1,- among teams including the Ducks, Panthers, Blackhawks, Avalanche, and Blues. Luke Carlsson reached 40 points in 32 games, the fastest Ducks player to hit that mark in nearly two decades since Teemu Selänne. Jesper Bratt added an assist to reach 475 career points for the Devils, one behind Scott Niedermayer for sixth-most in franchise history. Out for the Devils were forwards Arseny Gritsyuk (upper body), Jack Hughes (finger), Zack MacEwen (lower body), Evgenii Dadonov (wrist), Timo Meier (personal leave), and defensemen Brett Pesce (hand), Jonathan Kovacevic (knee).
