The New Jersey Devils took on the Seattle Kraken on Monday night after going 0-1-1 in their last two games. There are a lot of issues with this team that need to be corrected in this game.
For one, they wanted to keep the same great defensive play from their last game (a 1-0 loss in overtime to the Carolina Hurricanes) while bringing the offense back as they were shut out despite playing so well.
They did just that in their 3-1 victory over the Kraken at the Prudential Center. It was a very good win for them over another desperate team that is in a very similar position as New Jersey.
In this win, the Devils finally ended their power play drought that saw them go 0-23 in their last 23 power play attempts. To end the dry spell, Tyler Toffoli scored on a beautiful shot that went off the post and in.
The New Jersey Devils are happy to have their top guys scoring on the PP
Jack Hughes and Nico Hischier, their two most important forwards, assisted on the goal. In the case of Hughes, it was his first point since returning from injury last game. He missed 11 games prior and that was a big reason they had such a bad power play slump.
Seeing Hughes get his first point since returning is big for New Jersey. He scored a goal later in the game at even strength as well so this power-play goal might have been the icebreaker he needed.
Later in the game, the Devils thought they scored a second power-play goal when Simon Nemec blasted one past Joey Daccord but Erik Haula was called for goaltender interference after a video review. On that same power play, the Devils recorded seven shots. They were feeling it again.
This was once a power play that clicked over 40 percent and had the number-one unit in the league. Even through this slump, they are still top-ten sitting at number nine. Hopefully, they can keep this going.
Now, they'd like to see the man advantage keep going strong when they take on the Nashville Predators on Tuesday night. Winning will come with more power-play goals.