Devils Postgame: Tempers Flare; Markstrom Struggles in 5-3 Loss to Red Wings

Thursday night in Motor City was the moment the New Jersey Devils and their fans were waiting for. Finally, the Devils iced a 100% healthy team as they visited Little Caesars Arena to face the Detroit Red Wings. One defenseman returning and another arriving for his Devils debut, Luke Hughes and Brett Pesce replaced Simon Nemec and Daniil Misyul on the blue line.

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Yet, it wouldn’t matter. One game after the Red Wings were only able to muster up 10 shots, despite winning the game, they were largely outplayed by the Devils who out-shot them 41-20. Yet, the Red Wings converted five times, overcoming the shot and chance differential.

Things got feisty in this one. The Devils and Red Wings let tempers flare after Brenden Dillon dropped the mitts with Christian Fischer following a questionable hit on the New Jersey defenseman that left Keefe livid. Multiple fights and scrums ensued through the remainder of the game. Yet, they couldn’t convert the emotion of it all into a win.

In fact, the intensity went to the very end of the game, leaving the Devils superstar looking to the rafters trying to defend an empty Devils net.

Scoring a goal while simultaneously throwing a check & dunking on the other team's best player is incredible pic.twitter.com/legO0plB0V

— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) October 25, 2024

Let’s dive into how it happened.

Devils Recap

The Devils came out in the first period firing on all cylinders. Cam Talbot needed to be sharp early, and fought off New Jersey’s attack early on. However, Nico Hischier opened the scoring on the New Jersey’s first power play about halfway through the opening frame to give the Devils a 1-0 lead. The Devils nearly got out of the first period, however, a pair of defensive lapses cost them as Christian Fischer and Alex DeBrincat each scored to give Detroit a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.

The Devils went to the power play early in the second period, and an Erik Haula deflection beat Talbot to tie the game at two.

The next goal waited until halfway through the third period when Dylan Larkin regained the Red Wings’ lead. Although Hischier would soon after collect his second goal of the game — also on the power play — Patrick Kane hit the game winning goal and Michael Rasmussen provided the dagger scoring on an empty net.

Jacob Markstrom made 15 saves on 19 shots and collected his fourth loss of the season.

Takeaways

Perfect Start, Until it Wasn’t

The Devils started this game about as good as head coach Sheldon Keefe could have hoped for. From puck drop, New Jersey controlled the pace of play, had the puck on their stick for the majority of the period, and their special teams were strong on both sides of the ice.

On their first power play, New Jersey captain converted. And on the Red Wings’ first man advantage, the Devils killed it off.

The Devils finished the first period out-shooting their opponent 18-8. So they should have finished the first 20 minutes with a lead, right?

Wrong.

The Devils failed to get a neutral zone puck deep and the Red Wings brought it the other way. Jonas Siegenthaler won a puck battle below the goal line and attempted to clear the rubber from danger. However, Siegenthaler was caught puck watching and didn’t make his way back above the goal line to support Markstrom in the slot.

The result?

Fischer picked up a loose puck with minimal pressure as Stefan Noesen tried to make up for the deficit. However, the Red Wings forward converted to tie the game.

Not even 30 seconds later, Luke Hughes attempted a pass through the middle of the ice in the neutral zone. DeBrincat intercepted the puck, gained the offensive zone, and sniped one past Markstrom to give Detroit a 2-1 lead.

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The Devils played on their heels for all of 30 seconds in the first period and it bit them hard. Those are the kinds of mistakes they’ll have to clean up, otherwise it will be a long season.

Bent, Didn’t Break

The Devils did a real good job ensuring things didn’t go off the rails the way they did on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

At the end of the first period, the Devils were called for a too many men on the ice penalty. The penalty started at the beginning of the second period, and the Devils killed it off.

New Jersey took control of the middle frame from that point on with the exception of a handful of rushes the Red Wings nearly converted on. However, Markstrom met the Red Wings at the door and helped keep the game knotted at two goals each.

Similarly to the first, the Devils out-shot Detroit 14-6 and collected the majority of the chances with a positive 10-5 scoring chance differential.

The Devils don’t want to find themselves behind too often, but it was certainly a positive to see the way they responded in the second period. And although they didn’t win, if the Devils play like that every night, they’ll certainly win more games.

Markstrom Struggled

There’s no sugar-coating this one. The Devils win this game if Jacob Markstrom does what the Devils expected him to do.

Last season, Markstrom was the NHLs best in stopping high danger scoring chances. On Thursday, he couldn’t buy a high-danger save what-so-ever.

Markstrom only saw 19 pucks against the Red Wings. However, he allowed four to go by him, two of which were on the power play. In fact, Patrik Kane’s goal might have been on the man advantage, but the Devils’ goaltender wasn’t screened and even got a piece of the puck. In other words, he certainly should have made the save.

According to MoneyPuck, Markstrom ended Thursday night with a -2.13 goals saved above expected. It will certainly be a night to forget for the Swedish netminder.

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