The New Jersey Devils went into Sunday night's game against the Montreal Canadiens, dropping two of their last three and five of their previous six. It was imperative that the Devils got off to a quick start at the Prudential Center to right the ship, being as they only had one home game in those last six, which was also their only win as New Jersey hasn't been nearly as good on the road as they are at home. They're not in contention this year but still need to finish out the season strong to build for next year.
Miles Wood is one of those pieces for the future, despite that it was only his season debut Sunday due to hip surgery in the offseason. Wood's speed on the ice is noticeable as he constantly has a nose for the puck and has excellent hustle away from the puck. His teammates also note that the energy he brings to the locker room is infectious and adds to the team's chemistry.
Once the puck dropped at The Rock, Miles got comfortable in his first couple of shifts as he seemed to play like his normal self. Actions speak louder than words, as they say, and his aggressiveness on the forecheck created chances, showing no hesitation with his checks, to beating out an icing in the first ten minutes. Wood will hopefully be healthy going and can add this energy to the lineup every night.
Another answer in New Jersey's future is the former 1st overall pick Jack Hughes, who has taken significant strides with his game this year. Jack would be a crucial part of this game as he kicked off the action with the game's opening goal to give the Devils the 1-0 lead in the final minute of the first period. Sam Montembeault would play a puck that bounced to him off the boards, but pressure by Yegor Sharangovich forced Montembeault to misplay the puck. Sam would put it right on the tape of Hughes from the right faceoff dot that Jack ripped back at him for his 23rd goal of the year.
In the second period, Hughes would again score his second goal of the night and 24th of the season on the power play. The power play occurred after Canadiens Josh Anderson tripped up A.J. Greer to give the Devils the man advantage. Damon Severson would get the play started at the blue line finding Jesper Bratt at the left faceoff circle, then Jesper zipped a quick pass to Hughes on the opposite side low circle for the backdoor open net opportunity.
However, Montreal wouldn't go down without a fight in this one as they counterpunched three minutes later with a powerplay goal of their own. Miles Wood would be the offender on this one as he got a little overzealous trying to stick lift and got nabbed for high sticking on Joel Edmundson. The Habs' Josh Anderson set himself up at the front of the net screening Nico Daws when Jesse Ylonen ripped a slapshot from the left circle that Anderson re-directed to get his team on the board before the end of the second period.
The third period started with a couple of penalties by both teams though no scoring would come of it. When it seemed like New Jersey was doing what they needed to do to win late, Montreal would strike back with 42 seconds left in the game to tie it up. Canadiens pulled their goalie late, giving them an extra man on the ice, which they made good on when Rem Pitlick took a no-look backdoor pass from Christian Dvorak on the doorstep and buried it.
Overtime would see the teams trade chances back and forth, yet nobody made good on them, so the game would have to be decided in the shootout. It would be a bit of a marathon for shootouts as this one would go seven rounds to determine the winner. Cole Caufield, Jesper Bratt, Rem Pitlick, Jack Hughes, Dougie Hamilton, and Mike Hoffman all had shootout goals, yet Yegor Sharangovich had the deciding goal to give the Devils the victory.
New Jersey will look to continue the momentum Thursday as they play a strong Bruins team in Boston before returning home on Saturday to play the Florida Panthers at 12:30.
