The New Jersey Devils avoided an absolute disaster on Thursday night. Connor Hellebuyck was having a rough night, allowing three goals in the third period to blow a 4-1 lead. After what happened to the Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night where they blew a 4-0 lead to the Jets with less than three minutes left, the Devils looked like they were going to repeat the “performance.”
The Devils made a push late and almost ended the game in regulation. Jordan Binnington made a huge save on Jack Hughes right at the end (a little too late for Canada’s sake). He actually stole two goals from Hughes in the third period, but the Devils took it to overtime, and that’s where they thrive.
However, it wasn’t Jack Hughes this time. It was Jesper Bratt who scored the game-winning goal. He got on a breakaway and beat Binnington clean.
It was another win against a Western Conference team, a big stretch for the team, but it doesn’t happen without one huge play from Dougie Hamilton.
Dougie Hamilton with the huge defensive play to find Jesper Bratt who buries the OT winner! 🔥 @DonLagreca | @KenDaneykoMSG | #NJDevils pic.twitter.com/4btdoUUTno
— Devils on MSG (@DevilsMSGN) November 6, 2026
Dougie Hamilton made the biggest play of the New Jersey Devils win
This has been a trend for Hamilton this season. He had a rough start where he made a few mistakes in his defensive zone, and with the state of the goaltending at that point, most mistakes were leading to goals. With how Hellebuyck played on Thursday, the case is the same. Mistakes were going to lead to goals, but Hamilton knew the assignment and stepped up.
The Devils have needed Hamilton to play this role this season. Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce have taken over as the “top” defensive pairing, but Hamilton has still been playing like a number-one defenseman. It’s really been an advantage for the Devils since they worked on closing space in the defensive zone.
It’s been more of an extreme approach with Hamilton. There are still shots happening, and it’s not a deluge of high-danger chances against, but he’s making plays to stop goal-scoring plays on both even strength and the penalty kill. He showed that on Thursday night. Without his defensive play ending the 2-on-1 threat, the Devils probably lose. It would be a heartbreaker that might ruin the good vibes surrounding this team.
Instead, the Devils come out on top because of Hamilton’s pass breakup. He got the puck to Bratt on the other side of the ice, and he’s not going to miss on a breakaway like that. It was a big win for the Devils in that they didn’t let the adversity take them out of their game, and Hamilton’s play kept the score tied in overtime.
Hamilton deserves credit, and he’s definitely been worth all of his $9 million. There’s talk he still should be on the trade block, but that’s just not true. He keeps making clutch plays in big moments, and the Devils need that across all of their lines.
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