The Devils headed into game seven against the Buffalo Sabres looking to rebound from a performance where their coach said they played “soft”. Head coach Lindy Ruff mixed up his line combinations at the morning skate to jump-start his team and get more ice time for Curtis Lazar. For the most part, the line changes seemed to work early on as Alexander Holtz vindicated Ruff’s move with a goal to open the scoring for the Devils. Ruff said he felt that in the first period, the two best shifts for the Devils came from the new Michael McLeod, Nathan Bastian, Holtz line.
The game would go back and forth, with neither team taking a lead of more than a goal. Momentum swung back and forth, but the Devils’ special teams continued to come through and were the difference in the game. That, and Erik Haula‘s near-hat trick. At this point of the season, perfection is unattainable; however, banking two points when you aren’t yet at your best is essential to making the playoffs. Here are the takeaways from the win.
First Goal Woes Continue
The Devils came out much more composed than they did against Washington on Wednesday. They shut down the Sabres through the early portion of the first period but fell into some hard luck and again conceded the first goal. Defenseman Luke Hughes fell in the neutral zone leaving Dougie Hamilton alone to defend a 2v1 from the blue line. Sabres forward J.J. Peterka looked off Hamilton and ripped a shot over Vanecek’s shoulder to give the Sabres the 1-0 advantage.
Unlike the game Wednesday, the Devils would not compound their error as they struck back quickly. Holtz pounced on a rebound from a L. Hughes shot to tie the game at 1. At even strength, the Devils would dominate play, leading the expected goal percentage battle at 72%. While not fully cured, the Devils can be happier with the start. Ruff acknowledged as much after the game, “14 shots, attempts were up, we scored a couple of goals in the first period, so besides making some individual mistakes, there was a lot of good.” Haula agreed with his coach’s assessment, “a couple tough bounces I thought against, but overall I think it was better overall, so now we have to just keep building.” Haula stressed that the team is still a work in progress seven games into the season, but he is encouraged by what he has seen.
Team Rallies in the Face of the Loss of Nico Hischier
Down 2-1 after a spectacular finish by Tage Thompson, the game would change in an instant. Buffalo’s Connor Clifton, a New Jersey native, leveled captain Nico Hischier with a check directly to the head. As a stunned Hischier slumped to the ice, his linemate Ondrej Palat immediately rushed and engaged Clifton. Ultimately, the Devils would end up with a three-minute power play but would lose their captain for most of the remainder of the game. Clifton would be ejected for the hit and now faces a hearing with NHL Player Safety which Ruff supports, “The hit was a shot to the head. That’s something they’re trying to eliminate. It’s something they have to take a look at.” Hischier valiantly returned to the ice during the second period and even played seven shifts but did not return for the third due to precautionary reasons, per Ruff. Haula indicated that he did not like the hit and that he was “shocked” that Hischier even returned to the game.
For his retaliation on behalf of Hischier, Palat was given 17 penalty minutes but earned the admiration of his teammates and fans. There was no hesitation on the part of Palat in standing up for his teammate, and Kevin Bahl was involved in a fracas with Kyle Okposo as well. “No questions asked that is what you do, you know Nico, for sure, but I mean no matter who it is, a hit like that (you have to stand up for your teammate),” Haula shared after the game. McLeod agreed, “I love that for Pally. I think that’s a great message to send to the other team. You can’t hit our guys like that, especially the captain.” The Devils not only stood up for their captain, but they then immediately seized momentum as the teams played two minutes of 4v4. Only 11 seconds in, Jesper Bratt stole a puck on the forecheck and beat Eric Comrie five-hole to knot the game at two.
Special Teams Remain Special
The Devils entered the game as the top power play in the NHL, scoring at a 42% rate. In home games before this game, they were scoring at a 66% rate, which, while unsustainable long-term, it nonetheless impressive in the short term. The Sabres entered the night seventh in the NHL on the penalty kill and had only surrendered one power-play goal on the road in eight chances. Friday night (Oct. 27), the Devils’ strength prevailed as they scored twice on special teams, which was likely the difference in the game.
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The power-play goal finally came in the third period off the stick of Jack Hughes. The official scorers had a lot of trouble figuring out who would get the goal. At one point, it was credited to Jack, Timo Meier, Tyler Toffoli, and Michael McLeod (who wasn’t even on the ice) and ultimately was determined to be Jack’s fifth goal of the season and NHL-leading 18th point.
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Earlier in the game, the Devils took their first lead on a shorthanded goal by Haula. It was the team’s first of the season and was a big lift for Haula. Asked to describe the goal, Haula told The Hockey Writers:
“We got really good pressure on the puck when it came around. I don’t think (the Sabres) had a different play, Merce kind of did a really good job of pinning him. I didn’t see him have another way to go so I got a bit of a head start and was trying to read the play and they ended up putting it in a good spot for me to poke it and Dahlin was flat footed, and not much he could do there, and I was happy I was able to finish.”
Erik Haula
The Devils finished the game one for four on the power play and kept the Sabres scoreless on their two opportunities with the man advantage. In the postgame, Ruff cited the Haula shorthanded goal as a big boon for the team, “I thought the shorthanded goal was huge for momentum.” He also cited Bratt’s 4v4 goal as another momentum-shifting play. If the Devils can remain at or near the top five in power play percentage, they will be very difficult to play.
Notes and Observations
- Bratt extended his point streak to six games.
- The Devils played much of the second and the entire third with only 11 forwards, their ability to mix and match lines contributed significantly to the outcome. More on this in Sunday’s substack column
- Jack Hughes has a point in all seven games so far this year.
- L. Hughes led the team in time on ice for the second straight game.
- J. Hughes won over 62% of his faceoffs for the game.
- Kevin Bahl got his first point of the season with his assist on Haula’s game-winning goal.
- Haula already has two game-winning goals this season.
- Timo Meier now has six points over his last four games.
The Devils will practice Saturday and then return to action Sunday afternoon against the Minnesota Wild at 5:00 p.m. in Newark before embarking on a four-game in six days road trip through the Midwest.