3 Thoughts: No Power Play? No Problem, Marquee Marky, Devils Upend Division Rival

NEWARK—The New Jersey Devils might not have suppressed the Carolina Hurricanes like they’ve been everyone else, allowing more than 20 shots for the first time since December 8th. However, they still came away with two points in an impressive win against their division rival.

The Devils clearly had fewer chances than Carolina on Friday night, but made good on their opportunities, which ultimately led to victory.

And although the Hurricanes were expected to score more goals on paper, Jacob Markstrom was on top of his game.

Let’s get to how it happened.

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Devils Recap

The Hurricanes struck first, finding their legs out of the holiday break quicker. Eric Robinson found a loose puck between Jacob Markstrom’s pads and pushed the puck across the blueline to give Carolina a 1-0 lead halfway through the first period. However, the Devils came alive with five minutes remaining in the opening frame, receiving consecutive goals from Ondrej Palat and Nico Hischier to gain control of the game by the end of the first period.

Brent Burns quickly tied the game at two just over 20 seconds into the second period. However, the Devils struck back and regained the lead on a goal by Luke Hughes, and then Dawson Mercer doubled the lead by making it a 4-2 game.

Markstrom and the Devils locked down the third period and collected two points in a 4-2 victory. The Devils goaltender made 29 saves on 31 shots, turning aside three Hurricanes power play shots.

3 Thoughts

Devils Finally Getting Money’s Worth with Palat

Placing Ondrej Palat on a line with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt is something that’s been attempted before.

On the ice, there have been no excuses for Palat to perform poorly this season. He’s perfectly healthy and has been given a chance to produce next to two of the NHLs best playmaking distributors. Under the tutelage of Sheldon Keefe, it’s paying its dividends.

Ask both Jack and Bratt if they enjoy playing with the former two-time Stanley Cup Champion, and they’ll each rave about what he does for them as linemates. Palat does all the little things like win his puck battles, get dirty in the corners, and force turnovers on the forecheck which in turn opens up the ice more for the elite duo.

However, he’s lately been contributing a lot more on the scoresheet simply by being in the right place at the right time which is an ode to his hockey IQ. In the first period on Friday night, Palat crashed the Canes net and was the beneficiary of redirecting a Johnathan Kovacevic shot from the blueline that made its way past Pyotr Kochetkov.

In his last 10 games, he’s scored four goals and seven points, and has simply been the $6 million man the Devils paid for two summers ago.

No Power Play, No Problem

Friday night was a rare instance in which the Devils didn’t receive any power plays while playing the Hurricanes.

That didn’t matter, however, as the Devils still rung up Kochetkov for four goals at even strength.

The Devils don’t necessarily rely on their power play for goals, but they’re still second in the NHL, converting on 31.2% of their man advantage chances this season.

However, in the first game of a home-and-home situation, the Devils didn’t need a man advantage, scoring in multiple different was at even strength. Whether it was dirty goals, depositing rebounds, or clean snipes, the Devils found the net four times without needing their special teams.

Now that’s impressive.

Marquee Marky

Speaking of impressive, look no further than Jacob Markstrom.

The Devils goaltender gave up two goals, however, made 3.99 saves above expected according to MoneyPuck.

There were multiple highlight reel saves, including a few in which his post to post looked really strong. Markstrom was forced on an occasion or two to sprawl and make a pad save, and even fought off a couple of aggressive rebound chances by the Hurricanes.

Markstrom’s been seeing no more than 20 shots per night lately, but against the Hurricanes, he saw 31. And when the Devils needed him most, he met the Hurricanes at the door.

It was a marquee night for Markstrom.

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