The New Jersey Devils are having an amazing season. With that in mind, pretty much every team in the league will be just flat-out beaten every now and again. That was the case on the road against the Winnipeg Jets on Sunday.
On Tuesday, the Devils had a chance to bounce back at home against a division rival in the Pittsburgh Penguins. Playing well in this game would mean a lot coming off that beatdown in Winnipeg.
The Devils came into this game with a 3-0-0 record against the Pittsburgh Penguins this season. Obviously, sweeping them would mean a lot. It would also feel good because you’d know that the Devils were beating a team that is desperate and fighting for their playoff lives.
Once the puck was dropped, it became obvious that the Devils were going to have their way with these Penguins. They were all over with their chances and it felt like a matter of time before they broke through.
The New Jersey Devils are on their way to the postseason in 2022-23.
At 8:58 of the first period, Dougie Hamilton scored to make it 1-0 and the Devils were off and running on the scoreboard. From there, they ended up winning the game by a score of 5-1. It was an incredible victory to secure points 105 and 106 in the standings.
The big story in the game was the play of Dawson Mercer. In the game, Mercer scored his first career hat trick. That obviously played a big role in the team winning the game as yet another good player stepped up and helped them win.
The other cool part about this is that the goals were his 25th, 26th, and 27th goals of the season. That is a phenomenal total for a player in his second year.
Now, with four games left on the schedule, there is a realistic chance that he reaches the 30-goal plateau for the first time in his career. That would certainly boost his confidence as he moves into the next phase of his NHL career.
If Mercer reaches that plateau, he will join Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, and Timo Meier as the other 30-goal scorers on the team. Having five players with that total is truly remarkable.
Mercer is also the third Devils player to have a hat trick this season as Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt also have one. That is the first time that the Devils have had three unique hat trick scorers in the same season since 2011-12 when Zach Parise, Patrik Elias, and Ilya Kovalchuk did it.
Obviously, Mercer getting three goals in four games is not a lock but you can bet he is going to be trying to reach it if he can. Mercer hasn’t missed a game in his NHL career so you can only hope that won’t be the case to end the season either. It would be nice to see him reach that milestone.
One mention that should go with the play of Dawson Mercer is how his linemates helped him get his hat trick. For one, Nico Hischier is been elite all season long and he made some amazing plays to find Mercer in this one.
Tomas Tatar is the third guy on the line and he has done wonderful things this season as well. He chipped in on the Mercer hat trick with an assist. That line can absolutely take credit as the best line in the game on either team. They should be proud.
Dawson Mercer’s quest for 30 will continue on Thursday when the New Jersey Devils host the Columbus Blue Jackets. In addition to that, keeping pace with the other teams in the Metro is important as well.