Yesterday afternoon, the New Jersey Devils took on the Anaheim Ducks. Things started about how you would expect. The Devils, as the east coast host in this early afternoon matchup, had the jump on the Ducks. But
then, something very predictable happened: Troy Terry snuck behind Brenden Dillon and Luke Hughes and cherrypicked a breakaway goal in the second half of the first period. At the time, the Ducks only had a few shots on goal. After the Devils had given up eight to the Tampa Bay Lightning, I started to worry that I was about to witness an impending collapse. Now without Simon Nemec, who was hurt in practice, I also wondered if the team was just becoming too fractured.
Given the circumstances of the weekend, a bad loss would have been devastating. The Devils were out of a playoff spot, and they lost out on the trade market, but they could still have a good enough weekend for the season by winning on the ice. So, here are five things I liked in yesterday’s game:
Number One: Juho Lammikko and the Third Line
The Devils’ jump came from someone I have not enjoyed watching much all season: Juho Lammikko. Lammikko, who has not seemed to be moving very quickly on the ice in his 15 games, went from the far blueline all the way behind the Ducks’ net to set up Stefan Noesen for a game-tying goal, just minutes after Terry scored. Per NHL EDGE, this burst of speed from Lammikko was clocked at 22.53 miles per hour, breaking his previous career high of 22.52 MPH set in the 2021-22 season. This did not get him onto the top-10 Devils leaderboard this season (Paul Cotter had the 10th-fastest burst at 22.58 MPH), but it is certainly among the top few bursts of speed actually leading to a goal, both for the Devils and in the NHL this season.
Beyond that first goal, Juho Lammikko played a solid all-around game. His line later scored another goal (from Paul Cotter), and they controlled the scoring chance battle throughout the game. Lammikko was right in the mix in the slot when the teams battled for the puck that got knocked down from Colton White’s point shot, and now the Devils have a glimmer of hope that they could have a functional third line despite using Dawson Mercer as a winger again.
For chipping at that puck, Lammikko had his second point of the night, finally breaking through after 15 scoreless appearances. But here’s the simplicity of this line working at its best: Lammikko and Cotter should use their considerable speed, while Noesen and Lammikko should make goalies’ lives difficult around the net. That double screen made fighting that puck almost impossible for Dostal, who was unable to track how quickly it went from being knocked down in the slot to being on Paul Cotter’s stick right on his glove side.
There was one moment in the late first where Paul Cotter used his speed to gain the zone, had Noesen as an option in front of the net, and decided to skate the puck around the net and all the way to the blueline instead. While Cotter shows how dangerous of a skater he can be, and his goal-scoring ways seem to be coming back, he is still struggling to be a playmaker. Even if he didn’t make a direct pass to Noesen, as Lammikko did, a shot on goal for a rebound is perfectly fine for someone of Noesen’s skillset. When this line simplifies their offense, it feeds into their abilities, so I would like to see Cotter follow their lead and make more of the simple plays. Shoot low and hard from afar, get rebounds, and get traffic in front.
Number Two: Netfront Defense
One thing the Devils have struggled with all season is their defense around the net. For a team with Brenden Dillon, Jonas Siegenthaler, and Dougie Hamilton in the lineup, though, this really should not be such a problem. Their usual starters have the size to make an impact in the dirty areas, and it has been surprising to see a Brad Shaw-coached defense lose their heads as often as this group has. But yesterday, it seemed like they made a point to change the approach. Especially in the first two periods, you could see that the Devils were doing a better job than usual of boxing out the low slot and around the crease, with the Ducks only getting six high-danger scoring chances in the first two periods to the Devils’ 18 chances.
Did the Devils give up a lot of shots in the third period? Yes. But even then, most of Anaheim’s chances were forced to the outside, and everyone — including forwards — made a point of getting to the net when the Devils were in danger. Just look at Ondrej Palat crash down on this chance here, when Anaheim first pulled Dostal with over four minutes to play:
Is Troy Terry a guy who should have been open that long? Probably not, no. But Palat, who has used his speed a lot on the forecheck, reminded everyone what it could look like if he used his full intensity in the defensive zone. And making that type of play while not driving Terry into Allen or running his own goalie was just a cherry on top for Palat, as Terry would have almost certainly scored if Palat broke for the net just a half-second later.
Number Three: Cody Glass Continues to Shoot
In the late second period, Ondrej Palat also set up the crucial insurance goal. The Devils had been dominating the game by that point, and the one-goal lead at that time was not even reflective of how much better they were creating offense than Anaheim. After a long flip from Jonas Siegenthaler, Ondrej Palat chased the bouncing puck towards the goal line, sealing Owen Zellweger from the puck long enough for the Devils to keep possession. Connor Brown came in to assist, and Colton White chipped the puck back down to Palat. Palat waited for Radko Gudas to (foolishly) go down onto the ice to block a low pass to an already-covered Connor Brown, leaving a wide-open lane to the slot for Cody Glass. Glass drifted down, trailing Brown, and ripped a shot to the glove side, going against the grain of the pass, and that goal allowed the Devils to into protect mode.
Glass now has six goals and eight points in 21 games this season, which is great production for someone playing just 12:51 per game with very limited power play usage. Playing at a 23-goal, 31-point pace per 82 games, Glass is giving his lines a real finishing option, and it’s not an accident. He is doing a better job of getting to the dangerous scoring areas, and his shot is quick enough to beat goalies. This season, Glass is averaging 9.18 shots per 60 minutes at five-on-five, and his previous career high was 7.57 per 60 with Nashville in 2023-24. Hockey is a game that rewards the properly aggressive, and Cody Glass suddenly looks like a legitimate goal scorer.
Number Four: No Penalties in the Third
The New Jersey Devils have not necessarily been their most disciplined of late, with even guys like Nico Hischier taking more penalties than usual. Yesterday, they only took two stick penalties, with their final penalty kill coming from an unforced too many men where nobody was even trying to get back to the bench in the latter half of the second period. But the penalty kill was perfect, and even Colton White finally got 1:34 of penalty killing usage in the game. What happened in that time? Anaheim had zero shot attempts. Maybe he should get more run there.
That aside, it would have been extremely disappointing if the Devils let Anaheim get back into the game by taking penalties in the final frame. By avoiding such a pitfall, and playing more disciplined defense, they let Jake Allen do his job and mostly just challenged the Ducks to beat Allen from distance. It can be rather tiring to defend penalty after penalty, and getting out of yesterday’s game in a simpler manner should have kept them fresh for today’s game against the Canucks. We’ll see, but they did a good job of not dragging out the affair against the Ducks.
Number Five: Effort From All
Over the past month, the Devils have looked like they are only getting effort from some of the team far too often. Maybe the closed-door meeting on Thursday really made a difference, because all 18 skaters and Jake Allen looked locked in. The top three lines did a good job of controlling play, especially in the first two frames, though I put a grain of salt on the full-game possession and expected stats with how much the team sat back in the third. The fourth line could have been better, but I think Parent and Crookshank have brought great elements to that line with their speed and willingness to take anyone on around the net and boards.
Most of all, it’s great that the team did not fold. They practically stopped playing once Markstrom gave up his third goal against on Thursday, but they came right back when Troy Terry cherry picked his goal in the first period. It was like they took it personally. Between that goal and Glass’s insurance goal, the Devils were playing with an obvious purpose. Losing was unacceptable, and it looked like they considered winning mandatory. When the effort is there, it shows.
The Highlights
Enjoy the full highlights from the win.
Your Thoughts
What did you think of the win yesterday? Were you surprised by their effort after the early goal against? Were you able to watch? Leave your thoughts in the comments below, and thanks for reading.
