The New Jersey Devils rallied twice to take down the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights in overtime. In a wild, back-and-forth contest, the Devils found the back of the net six times to secure an important two points in their push for the playoffs. With the win, the Devils improved to 24-18-3, while the Golden Knights fell to 27-14-6.
Game Recap
Period One
For the 32nd time this season, the Devils surrendered the first goal of the game. Pavel Dorofeyev scored off an odd-man rush at 6:12 from Chandler Stephenson and Mark Stone.
The Devils bounced back with some pressure, and at 15:21, Nico Hischier lit the lamp with his 13th goal of the season. Timo Meier and Jesper Bratt collected the assists.
In the dying seconds of play, the Devils took the lead thanks to a snipe from Curtis Lazer in the slot. Erik Haula and Nathan Bastian added assists.
The shots were 14 apiece after 20 minutes.
Period Two
Early in the second, at 1:37, Tyler Toffoli scored his second goal in as many nights to extend the Devils’ lead to 3-1. Simon Nemec and Kevin Bahl had the assists.
However, at 7:39, Vegas pulled back within one after Jonathan Marchessault found a rebound a put it into the empty net. Nicolas Roy and Kaedan Korczak tallied the assists.
A few minutes later, at 9:59, Marchessault scored off a two-on-one break to tie the game at three. Ivan Barbashev collected the only assist.
Again, at 10:48, Stephenson redirected a pass from Stone to regain the lead for the Golden Knights. Alec Martinez had the other assist.
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In the last minute of play, Vegas scored their fourth goal of the period to go ahead by two. Marchessault found Roy cutting in front of the net to beat Vitek Vanecek.
To give the Devils a glimpse of life, Toffoli netted his second of the night to cap off a period with six total goals. Dawson Mercer had the assist.
The Devils were outshot 11-9 in the period.
Period Three
Midway through the third, at 9:14, Lazar tallied his second goal of the night to tie the game at five. Nemec and Bastian added assists.
Despite heavy pressure from the Devils in the second half of the period, they couldn’t grab the go-ahead goal before overtime. New Jersey outshot Vegas 12-7 in the final frame.
Overtime
The Devils put together a dominant effort in overtime and were rewarded at 2:35. Toffoli capped off his hat trick thanks to a dish from Luke Hughes that sent the Prudential Center crowd home happy.
The Devils outshot the Golden Knights 3-1 in overtime and 38-33 in the game.
Takeaways
No Quit in New Jersey
In a game with major momentum swings in each direction, the depleted Devils lineup put together a gritty effort to earn a much-needed two points. Toffoli led the charge with a hat trick against Vegas and four goals in two games since breaking out of his slump. Lazar had a two-goal performance and some solid defense to contribute at both ends of the ice. Bratt had a strong performance as well, despite only tallying a secondary assist. He had 10 shots on net and 17 shot attempts. His line with Meier and Hischier out-chanced Vegas 13-6 while on the ice.
The Devils allowed four consecutive goals in the middle frame, with three coming in a four-minute span, a trend that has cost them in the past. However, they found a way to lock down defensively in the third and claw back into the game, which is an encouraging sign. It wasn’t pretty, but the effort and determination of the team was evident, and they were rewarded for it.
Next Up
The Devils hit the road for their final two games before the all-star break. They face off against the Carolina Hurricanes on January 25, in a rematch of the second-round playoff series from last season.
Carolina sits 3rd in the Metropolitan Division with a 25-15-5 record. They are 7-2-1 in their last ten contests. The Hurricanes will be on the second half of a back-to-back when they face the Devils, having played the Boston Bruins the night before.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST.
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Great recap of the game