Yakovlev played 9:32 against the Flames.
3. Goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made his first appearance in net since February 2, when he posted a 3-2 overtime victory in Montreal against the Canadiens. Since then, the rookie netminder has spent time in the AHL improving his game waiting for his next NHL opportunity.
Blackwood held his own against the high-octane Flames, making 33 saves on 35 shots in the loss.
4. Activated off of injured reserve just prior to the game, Sami Vatanen returned to the Devils lineup for the first time since January 28th when the Devils were in Pittsburgh. Vatanen had missed the last 14 games for New Jersey with a concussion.
Tweet from @NJDevils: All the ������ because Sami���s back. pic.twitter.com/Y9jVj5vw2Q
Vatanen played 21:27 in his return to the lineup.
5. With both Taylor Hall and Kyle Palmieri absent from the game, there was room for one more player to wear the 'A' alongside Travis Zajac. That honor went to Nico Hischier, who for just the second time in his young NHL career, saw a letter on his jersey when he entered the dressing room. Hischier last wore the 'A' on February 2nd at Montreal - a game where he scored twice, including the game-winning overtime goal.
6. Blake Coleman was fresh off of a 25-plus minute night against Montreal when he was thrust into top line duties against the Calgary Flames. Just one game prior, Coleman played a career-high 25:45, the man known as 'Pickles' had another night of heavy lifting.
It probably wasn't the night that Coleman had been striving for, forced into the penalty box on three separate occasions and played 21:23.
7. Once the Flames had taken a 2-0 lead on the Devils with two goals in the first 13:52 of the second, Kevin Rooney cut the Flames lead to 2-1 with a career-first shorthanded goal. It was also a masterful play by the 25-year-old who stripped Flames leading scorer Johnny Gaudreau of the puck, and through some traffic, he took away Rittich's eyes and got the puck past him with a nice wrist shot.
Tweet from @NJDevils: @kroons25 with a classic steal-and-score 🚨 pic.twitter.com/ZrITpdMCOL
Rooney's goal was scored unassisted with 3:13 left in the middle period and on just the Devils eighth shot of the game.
8. Scoring shorthanded isn't uncommon for Rooney, who while in the AHL eat up plenty of minutes on the penalty kill. His shorthanded goal against the Flames was his first at the NHL level, but in the AHL he has another eight to add to his professional tally. In 2016-17 with Albany, Rooney had four goals while on the penalty kill, and another four during the 2017-18 AHL season with Binghamton. (Credit: Craig Seiden, NJ Devils Radio Statistician)
9. There was a truly difficult moment to digest early in the third period when Devils defenseman Mirco Mueller went head-first into the boards behind Rittich's net. The Swiss defenseman lay motionless on the ice for quite some time as he was tended to by medical staff from both the Devils and Calgary Flames.
Mueller was taken off the ice on a stretcher, but not before giving a thumbs-up to the crowd. The Devils will provide an update on Mueller when possible.
10. The Devils continue their three-game homestand when they host the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday night, before heading to Boston to take on the Bruins and former teammate Marcus Johansson on Saturday.
