With a little over two months left in the regular season, the New Jersey Devils have regained their defensive groove.
All-Star Jack Hughes recorded a goal and an assist, his first points since an injury in early January, and Nico Daws made 27 saves to lead the Devils to a 3-1 win over the Seattle Kraken on Monday night, handing Seattle their third consecutive loss.
“You look at tonight after 30 minutes, we’ve given up seven shots,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “Part of that is really good puck management up ice, making sure we’re getting pucks in, pucks deep so that when you’re defending, you’re defending in the offensive zone. You’re keeping the other team in there.”
Tyler Toffoli and Dawson Mercer also scored for New Jersey, which swept the two-game season series with Seattle. The Devils have allowed only one regulation goal in the last two games, losing 1-0 to Carolina on Saturday.
“We played hard, and I thought it was a really good defensive game for us,” Daws said after starting for the first time in five games. “They didn’t give up much, so I think that was awesome.”
Defenseman Will Borgen scored halfway through the third period to deny Daws his first career shutout and the Devils’ first of the season. Joey Daccord kept the Kraken in the game, making 34 saves.
“I thought as a group, we played well up front and maybe four lines rolling; that’s when we’re at our best,” Hughes said. “So I thought that was a good game.”
Leading 1-0 entering the second period, Hughes and Mercer scored in the opening five minutes to give New Jersey a comfortable lead.
Hughes, who sustained an upper-body injury on Jan. 5 against Chicago and missed 11 games, banked a bad-angle shot off Daccord’s facemask for a 2-0 lead 48 seconds into the second period. Erik Haula set up the shot with a steal off Matty Beniers as he skated out of his end.
Mercer added his 15th goal, putting the rebound of a Timo Meier shot past Daccord.
“Really, our execution just took us out of this hockey game for the first 35 minutes,” Kraken coach Dave Hakstol said. “That’s really what led to most of our issues.”
Devils rookie Simon Nemec lost a goal in the second period after a Seattle challenge was upheld because Haula interfered with Daccord in the crease.
Toffoli scored the only goal in the first period on a power play, 21 seconds after Seattle was called for too many men on the ice. It was his team-high 22nd goal of the season, assisted by Nico Hischier and Hughes.
The Kraken played most of the game without defenseman Brian Dumoulin, who sustained a lower-body injury in a collision with Meier in the first period. Hakstol had no update on his condition after the game.
Seattle is now 3-7-1 in its last 11 games and is out of the playoff picture with 30 games to go.
“It’s a test for us, you know, in terms of adversity and character and how we are going to respond to it,” defenseman Jamie Oleksiak said. “And I think it’s a good opportunity for us. So we just got to focus on one game at a time and take it from there.”
Upcoming Games
- Kraken: At the Islanders on Tuesday night.
- Devils: At Nashville on Tuesday.
