Here are some observations from the game:
• It was the Nico Daws Show in Nashville. The Devils escaped the first period with a 1-0 lead thanks in large part to the play of Daws between the pipes. Less than 10 seconds after New Jersey scored the game’s opening goal, Daws denied future Hall of Famer Steven Stamkos from the slot to keep it 1-0. A minute later, Daws stretched out his leg pad to make a split save on the deadly Filip Forsberg on a breakaway. Those timely saves preserved the one-goal lead.
Daws continued his heroics for the rest of the game. He picked up breakaway saves on Gustav Nyquist and Colton Sissons, and made a wicked glove save on Forsberg on a shot from the slot.
• The Devils’ first goal came off a great read by defenseman Luke Hughes. He was deep on the play when a blocked shot ended up on his stick in the near circle. Predators goalie Justus Annunen played Hughes aggressively expecting a shot. The netminder pushed hard to his right and dropped into his butterfly. With no room to shoot, Hughes slid the puck laterally to Palat for basically an empty-net score. Smart play by Hughes to realize he didn’t have an angle on a shot and knowing where his teammates were for a backdoor feed.
• It was a double milestone goal for the Devils on the game’s opening tally. Both Palat (goal scorer) and Hamilton (assist) picked up their 500th career NHL point on the play. They'll have to split the puck in half for the players to share. Or not...
"I was thinking about it before if we scored on the same goal, who is going to get the puck?" Hamilton said. "Palat got the puck. It's cool. I'm happy for him. Cool for me to do that."
• Hamilton picked up two points in the contest with a goal and an assist. Hamilton pinched deep into the offensive zone on a rush play for the Devils. Captain Nico Hischier carried behind the goal and found Hamilton in the low circle. Hamilton scored with a perfect shot far side from a bad angle. The puck came out of the net with the same hyper velocity as it went into the net.
Hamilton had two assists and eight shots in the previous game against Dallas, and now has a three-game scoring streak with five points (1g-4a).
"I tried to come out of the break and find my game," Hamilton said. "Felt good the last two games. Hopefully I can keep going."
• Seamus Casey found himself back in the lineup for the Devils for the first time since being recalled last week. It was also his first NHL game since Oct. 19. But it doesn’t look like he has missed a beat.
Casey picked up his fourth goal of the season with a nasty snapshot from above the circles late in the second period. It was an absolute snipe. Four goals in nine NHL games, not too bad, right?
"Some beginners luck. A couple pucks finding their way through," Casey said. "(The goal) found its way home. I don't know if there are any tricks to it, just a lucky shot."
• Jesper Bratt extended his point/assist streak to 10 games. He has two goals and 14 assists for 16 total points in the streak. Bratt’s 10-game assist streak passes Petr Sykora for the longest in team history.
• The Devils shook up their lineup heading into the game against the Predators. They inserted forward Justin Dowling and rookie defenseman Seamus Casey and scratched blueliner Simon Nemec and forward Curtis Lazar.
The Devils also retooled their line combinations. They kept the Palat-Hughes-Bratt trio the same. But the rest of the groupings were as follows:
Tatar – Hischier – Noesen
Meier – Dowling – Mercer
Cotter – Haula – Bastian
"We're trying to mix it up a little bit more," Keefe said. "All of that stuff worked out."
