The New Jersey Devils lost 5-2 to the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night at the Prudential Center. It was game 82 for New Jersey, the final regular-season matchup before the team travels to Carolina to begin its playoff campaign. The Red Wings were previously eliminated from playoff contention and have one more contest on Thursday to complete their season. The Devils end their season with a 42-33-7 record, and Detroit improved to 39-35-7.
Game Recap
With the playoffs imminent, the Devils went with a heavily altered starting lineup. Of the forwards, Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Stefan Noesen, Ondrej Palat, Timo Meier, and Paul Cotter (suspension) all had the night off. On the back end, Luke Hughes, Brett Pesce, and Johnathan Kovacevic also sat out. Jacob Markstrom was scratched, and Jake Allen served as a backup to Nico Daws, who was recalled from Utica to get the start.
Period One
Despite most of the forward and defense groups sitting, the Devils had a slight edge in the early going. Dougie Hamilton recorded a blocked shot in his first game back from injury, a good sign looking toward the playoffs. Simon Nemec got caught with a high stick, but nothing was called.
Brenden Dillon was tagged for a trip, and Vladimir Tarasenko appeared to score, but it was overturned after a Detroit Red Wings stick poked Nico Daws’ glove out of position. The Devils killed the rest of the penalty.
Daniel Sprong and Cody Glass went the other way to create a few opportunities, but Alex Lyon kept them out.
At 17:07, on a rush, the Red Wings got a lucky bounce that found the stick of Jonatan Berggren, who roofed it past Daws, who was caught deep in his net. Simon Edvinsson and Lucas Raymond had the assists.
Each team recorded ten shots in the opening 20 minutes.
Period Two
On another rush, the Red Wings grabbed a two-goal lead thanks to J.T. Compher’s 11th of the season at 5:20. Michael Rasmussen had the lone assist.
The Devils got their first power-play opportunity, but it was killed off.
The teams exchanged chances, but nothing particularly dangerous made it through to the netminders.
Hamilton was called for tripping with 3:30 left in the frame, but the penalty kill stood strong.
The Devils were immediately tagged for having too many men on the ice, and the penalty rolled over into the final period.
The shots were even at seven apiece in the middle frame.
Period Three
The Red Wings were called for interference just 14 seconds in, negating the rest of the Detroit power play. The teams skated with four aside for a few seconds before the Devils took another penalty to eliminate what would’ve been an abbreviated power play for New Jersey.
Everything was killed off, but just after the penalty expired, the Red Wings added a third goal at 2:55. Dylan Larkin scored from the slot with assists from Edvinsson and Moritz Seider.
Near the halfway point of the period, the Devils got another power-play opportunity and Erik Haula tipped a shot past Lyon at 11:32. Sprong and Seamus Casey had the assists.
The Devils pulled within one just a few minutes later after Haula found Dawson Mercer at the net front, and he buried it behind Lyon at 14:21. Mike Hardman tallied a secondary assist for his first point as a Devil.
The teams skated with four aside after Compher held onto Glass’ leg and stick, and Glass was penalized for retaliation. Alex DeBrincat scored at 17:09 during the four-on-four with assists from Larkin and Seider.
The Devils pulled their goalie, and Detroit hit the empty net to ice the game.
New Jersey outshot Detroit 30-27 in the final game of the regular season.
Takeaways
There isn’t much to be taken from the final game of the season. While it would’ve been nice to go into the postseason coming off a win, with half of the regular roster sitting in the press box, the forward lines, defensive pairings, and goaltending from this game won’t be the same come game one in Carolina.
All things considered, the group of skaters didn’t perform too badly against a full Detroit Red Wings lineup. The penalty kill was a perfect 4/4, even with the changed units, a true testament to the system that the coaching staff implemented. Additionally, New Jersey’s power play was 50% on the night and got them back in the game late.
Hamilton also looked good in his return to the lineup after missing 18 games with a knee injury. He didn’t get on the score sheet, but he tallied four shots on net and four blocked shots in 23:42 of ice time. He skated well and didn’t appear to have missed a beat despite the time missed. Having him back and fully healthy is a huge boost to New Jersey’s playoff lineup.
Again, as far as the playoffs go, this performance was meaningless for the Devils, but nonetheless, it was encouraging to see the fight from the players on the ice to give the fans something to cheer about as they closed out the regular season.
Up Next
With the Devils’ regular season completed, all eyes have turned to the playoff matchup against the Carolina Hurricanes, which will begin in Raleigh.
The Hurricanes finish their season on Thursday night, when they take on the Ottawa Senators in Ottawa.
The Devils and Hurricanes played an evenly matched season series, with each team winning two games. New Jersey won both contests at the Rock while Carolina took both at the Lenovo Center.
In terms of total goals across the four head-to-head matchups, the Hurricanes outscored the Devils 13-12. Carolina had a 4-2 victory on October 15th and a 5-2 victory on December 28th. New Jersey won 4-2 on November 21st and 4-2 on December 27th.
Puck drop for the Devils’ first game is set for Sunday, April 20th at 3:00 p.m. EST. For those in the local market, coverage will air on MSGSN. Nationally, it’s available on ESPN, SN, SN360, and TVAS.
