Ondrej Palat completely turned his fortunes around with New Jersey Devils

The New Jersey Devils had a huge bounce-back performance against the Los Angeles Kings after a disappointing loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday. After the Kings scored the first goal of the night, some Devils fans thought it was going to be "another one of those nights." Then, the Devils scored three unanswered goals and finished the game 3-1. The Kings were rolling coming into the game, winning eight of their last 10 games. The Devils put out that fire pretty easily.

There were a few moments that really turned the game around, and most of them had Jack Hughes involved. That's not a surprise at all. Jack Hughes has been one of the only offensive players that's still hitting a high clip. However, the surprise was the impact Ondrej Palat had on the team.

Palat started the scoring with a very timely tip. He put his twig up at the perfect time, and he knocked a Jack Hughes shot straight underneath David Rittich. It was a huge play that turned the fortunes around for the Devils. It also changed the mindset for New Jersey. They were about to go into the second intermission with their head down, but instead, they had a new sense of motivation.

Palat then made a huge impact on Hughes goal to give the Devils the lead. He skated into the zone right behind Jesper Bratt. Bratt knocked his guy off the puck, and Palat skated as if he was going to go behind the net. Right before he turned the corner, Jack Hughes cut towards the net, and Palat sent a perfect backhanded pass through traffic, and Hughes had the easiest goal he's had in a long time.

The Devils really needed something out of their $6 million man. He was dreadful when Sheldon Keefe had him in the bottom six, but he might be a player who needs to be in a team's top six. We've made the point that Palat's numbers are never going to look good compared to his actual impact. Palat is a player who makes very impactful moves, but he might allow smaller chances against him knowing there's a low likelihood it hits the back of the net.

Palat leads this team in 5v5 takeaways by a pretty good margin. His 14 takeaways is three more than Jack Hughes, who is second on the team. Hughes has made it a habit to use takeaways to drive offense the other way, but Palat is still on top of this team. We've seen it directly lead to offense. His hockey IQ is still off the charts, and he's getting these takeaways by reading plays before they happen and being in the right place at the right time.

When judging Palat's game, don't just rely on the numbers. You need to see what he's doing on the ice. He plays a very boring brand of hockey until the moment comes when he can strike. We saw on Thursday night what happens when he does strike. It's possible the Devils don't come out of Thursday night with two points if it wasn't for Palat. That's why he's still very important to this team.