The New Jersey Devils faced the best team in hockey on Tuesday night and looked like the better team in the second and third periods. They played a team with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl to a draw in overtime, and they took their game with the Edmonton Oilers to the shootout. From there, it is what it is.
It was a big night for Jack Hughes, who scored two goals, and Connor Brown scored on the power play after a big change by Sheldon Keefe. It worked well, but the Devils found themselves in penalty trouble at the end of the second period, and that was the story of the game.
The Oilers scored two goals in a few minutes of game play at the end of the second and the beginning of the third period to tie the game at three. It was a rough stretch for the Devils, but they kept themselves clean for the rest of the third period, and that was key in getting this game to overtime.
And the Devils took this one in the shootout, with Arseny Gritsyuk and Jesper Bratt putting the puck behind Tristan Jarry, who was great all night. The Devils peppered him with 34 shots.
On the other side, Connor Hellebuyck had his worst performance since he was traded to the Devils, but he stepped up big in the shootout. He stopped three of four shots in the parlor game, and it was his most important saves since coming south of the Canadian border.
The Devils showed they can go toe-to-toe with the best in the league
This was an important game for the Devils because of how well the Oilers have played this season. They came in 11-2-2 on the season, the best in the NHL. Except for a portion of the first period, the Devils were the better team on the ice. Bad penalties aside, the Devils felt like they deserved the two points.
On top of that, the Devils shut down McDavid better than anyone else this season. They held him to a secondary assist, and he kicked the puck on the power play to Draisaitl. They almost held him to nothing, which would have been the first time anyone did that all season.
In 16 minutes of 5v5 ice time, McDavid lost the chance battle 8 to 10, according to Natural Stat Trick. When it comes to shutting down a player, that’s as close as it gets. Meanwhile, no Devils team lost the chance battle, with the line of Anthony Mantha-Evan Rodrigues-Jesper Boqvist tying. Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier’s lines both had more than 70 percent of the chances while they were on the ice.
The Devils had a great night. The guys who needed to win their battles won their battles. They need to avoid bad penalties, and Hellebuyck probably wants two of those goals back, but everything else was as crisp as Sheldon Keefe could want.
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