Devils Defeat Ducks 6-2

1st Period

Dougie Hamilton lost the puck at the offensive blue line. Fortunately Tatar got back and broke up the 2 on 2 chance for the Ducks.

Off a faceoff Hughes drove to the net but the puck bounced over his stick. A minute later Hischier took a loose puck and Palat had it in front but Klingberg denied him. Bratt also had a near-chance but the puck slipped past him along the wall with open ice. The Devils would not be denied, however. With the “4th” line out, Hamilton took a shot, got the puck again, and Gibson gloved it right back to him in the slot. 1-0 Devils. Hamilton with 8 points in his last 7, and another point for Mercer. On the next play, Smith sent a breakaway pass Wood’s way, but Gibson denied him.

A bouncing puck turned Fowler around and Bratt snuck past him and took the puck, and he doubled the lead with a quick wrister 5 hole.

The Ducks would get the first power play of the game, as Graves took an OZ penalty. Shots are 9-3 Devils so far.

The final 30 seconds were killed by the Devils playing keep away. It’s fun for the Devils to be the team with the PK possession.

Woos was taken down in the OZ and Shattenkirk is the first Duck to the box today. Hughes went for a shot pass and it looked like Hischier tipped it in. 3-0 just a few seconds in. The official scorer says that Nico did not touch the puck and it’s Hughes’ goal. 2 points already for Dougie.

Smith took a high stick and went down the tunnel. No call. I didn’t quite see what happened, but Smith was not happy with the Ducks in the 2nd period.

2nd Period

Hamilton hit the post with a one time blast.

Vanecek had to make his first good stop of the game on a Silfverberg backhander.

This has been a pretty lifeless game. I’m used to the Devils being on the wrong side of games like this, it’s strange for it to be the other way around.

Graves drove to the net like he was trying to be Hughes or Mercer but he can’t stickhandle very well and didn’t score. It was mildly funny to see him play like a forward, though. The Ducks went the other way and after Vanecek covered Smith got his helmet knocked off by a Duck.

Carrick finished his check against Smith. Carrick managed to goad Smith into fighting. both got 5, and Smith got an additional 2 for high-sticking.

Bratt scored on a wraparound with 8 minutes left in the 2nd.

Haula held on to the puck too long and Terry stole it at the Ducks blue line. He beats Okhotiuk and went in alone on Vanecek. His shot went wide, but it got Vanecek to turn over. Terry got the puck to Henrique who was able to score with Vanecek down. Ducks get one back, 4-1.

With about 4 minutes left in the period the Ducks had their first sustained 5v5 pressure of the game, but did not score. With 2 minutes left the Ducks got more pressure and Sharangovich grabbed Terry and hauled him down. Devils to the kill. They killed it down to the end of the period, and the Ducks went after them. A ref had to basically fight Vatrano to keep him from going at Severson or Siegenthaler. Strome did go at Siegenthaler, who wasn’t really fighting back, and the refs tackled them.

3rd Period

The scrum at the end of the 2nd resulting in Siegenthaler being called for roughing and Strome getting 2 roughing penalties, so it started with a 4 on 4 and then an abbreviated power play for the Devils, both of which were pretty uneventful.

Back at 5 on 5, Severson threaded the needle for Boqvist. On the breakaway, he fired the puck off the blocker side post and in. 5-1 Devils.

With about 10:55 left Bratt stole the puck to give himself a breakaway but missed the net looking for the hat trick.

Hamilton took a tripping penalty. A Fowler shot bounced of Henrique and through Smith to Zegras, who walked in before Smith could recover and put it past Vanecek from just a couple feet away. 5-2. The Devils would respond immediately. Sharangovich stripped the puck from Shattenkirk and passed to a cutting Hughes, who put it in to restore the 4 goal lead.

This is now the NHL-best 16th road win of the season for the Devils.

Final Thoughts

Well, there isn’t too much to say about this one. This was a game the Devils were supposed to win and they did. If you went to sleep early and missed the game, you missed 6 Devils goals, but the game wasn’t particularly exciting like the previous two. Severson and Hughes both had 3 point games, Sevo with 3 assists, Hughes 2-1-3. Bratt, Hamilton, and Boqvist also had multi-point games. Good game for the Devils to start off going up 3-0 and keep the pressure on by scoring another 3. There were a couple good Ducks shift, and they were piling up the xGs in the 2nd half of the 2nd period, but the Devils still won that battle 4.84 to 3.31. That 3.31 number compared to the 2 actual goals tells you Vanecek had a good game. He did make a couple good saves and there were some scrambly moments in front where the puck stayed out. Shots were 39 to 33, so a good amount for both teams. More offense than I expected, but overall not a surprising result, and the only time the game was tied was when it was 0-0. 3 Ws in a row for the Devils! If you have anything else to add, leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thank you for reading.