Recent results indicate the New Jersey Devils may be regaining their form from a strong opening few weeks and now they would like to avoid any kind of a letdown against the NHL’s worst team.
The Devils go for their season-high fourth straight win Friday night in Newark, N.J., when they host the San Jose Sharks, who are still searching for their first road win.
New Jersey is on its second three-game winning streak this season. The other was Oct. 27 through Nov. 2, when it beat Buffalo and got two wins over Minnesota as part of its 6-2-1 run.
After the three-game winning streak, the Devils endured a 2-7-1 slump that coincided with an injury to Nico Hischier. He has two goals and two assists since returning from missing 11 games, and the Devils have scored 16 goals in their past three games.
Hischier got the secondary assist Thursday when Luke Hughes scored the game-winner 28 seconds into overtime to give the Devils a 4-3 victory at Philadelphia. Hughes scored after the Devils blew a two-goal lead in the final five minutes of regulation and also got the winning goal after getting examined for a concussion in the opening period.
“I thought he showed a lot of determination,” Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. “We didn’t know if he was gonna get back; he took one heck of a hit. So to get back, play the way he did, compete the way he did, I don’t think he was 100 percent, but wanted to finish the game.”
Tyler Toffoli, Jack Hughes and Alexander Holtz scored in a game where the Devils took a season-high 44 shots on goal, eclipsing the 41 they had at Chicago on Nov. 5.
The Devils also won while playing without Dougie Hamilton due to an upper-body injury sustained in the second period Tuesday in a win over the New York Islanders — and the defenseman may be out again.
Not only are the Sharks 0-10-0 on the road, but they also are on a 13-game road losing streak dating to a 7-2 win at Arizona on April 1. This year, they have yet to score more than one goal in a road game and are getting outscored 42-6 in road games.
San Jose’s latest defeat was Thursday, a 3-0 loss in Boston to start a six-game trip. After earning consecutive one-goal wins over Vancouver and Washington, the Sharks allowed two goals in the second period and were blanked for the fourth time this season.
“Psychologically, we get down — especially on the road,” San Jose coach David Quinn said. “We tend to feel sorry for ourselves.”
The Sharks are a respectable 5-6-1 in their past 12 contests, since allowing 10 goals in each of the final two games of their season-opening 11-game losing streak.
They were doomed by misplays with the puck in Boston and the inability to get a shot on goal during a 5-on-3 power play early in the third period.
“Obviously, it’s just kind of been the story of the season,” San Jose’s Nico Sturm said. “Obviously, in the NHL you need a full 60 minutes to win a hockey game. I thought the third [period] was better again, but yeah, second period cost us the game for sure.”
–Field Level Media
