Devils Rally to Win Shootout in San Jose | GAME STORY

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Jack Hughes scored with 8.6 seconds left in the third period to lift the New Jersey Devils to a 4-3 shootout win over the San Jose Sharks, sweeping all three California teams on the road for the first time since November 2000.
The Devils have now won the first four games of their season-long five-game road trip which concludes this Thursday in Seattle.

ALL YOUR POST-GAME INFO

GAME DAY
Box Score
Advanced Stats
In-Game Highlights
Photo Gallery
POST-GAME VIDEO
WATCH:
Full Highlights
WATCH:
Rewind
WATCH:
Tatar
|
Hischier
WATCH:
Devils head coach Lindy Ruff
WHAT'S NEXT
The Devils conclude their season-long road-trip against the Seattle Kraken on Thursday. The game can be seen on MSGSN and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 10:08 p.m. ET.
With 8.6 seconds to play in the third, the Devils scored to tie it up. Jack Hughes wired a shot from the top of the left circle past Sharks goaltender James Reimer for the goal.
"That one feels good. Especially after the first and how we battled back. We deserved it to go to OT then huge shootout win. It was definitely a cool moment," said Devils captain Nico Hischier on the Hughes equalizer.
At the end of regulation, shots were 37-29 for the Devils.
The Devils' best chance to score in OT came when Jesper Bratt zipped in on Reimer with a deke but lost a handle on the puck just before he was able to put it into the open net. Hughes had the puck alone in front several minutes later and couldn't lift the puck over the outstretched pad of the Sharks goaltender.
At the end of 65 minutes, shots were 41-32 in favor of New Jersey.
Tomas Tatar scored for the Devils in the shootout while Vitek Vanecek stopped all three shots he faced to give the visitors the win.
"It wasn't the prettiest win but in the end all that matters is we came out with two points," said Hischier. "The first period wasn't our game. Everybody saw that and we got a little too cocky after that early lead. After the second goal, we were back to our game. We controlled it and just played our game. We battled and skated more. We have to do it three periods."
Twenty-nine seconds into the game, Ryan Graves buzzed around the Sharks zone and fire a shot past Reimer who was knocked out of position after being bumped by teammate Timo Meier.
With 3:59 left in the first period, the teams went to their dressing rooms due to a broken door behind the net. Shots on goal were 8-3 for the Sharks.
When play resumed, it only took the Sharks 43 seconds to get on the board and even the game up. Meier was stationed at the left side of the net and redirected the puck into the open cage past an outstretched Vitek Vanecek.
The first penalty of the game went to the Devils for having too many men on the ice. With 3.7 seconds to go in the opening frame, the Sharks converted on the power play to take the lead. Erik Karlsson waisted a shot from the high slot past Vanecek for the goal.
After the first period ended, shots on goal were 13-4 for the Sharks. The second period started immediately after a short shovel scrape.
"We had to find a way to win. We got a lucky break with the tying goal but we weren't very good early on," said Devils head coach Lindy Ruff. "That first 25 minutes, I don't think we started playing until the game was 2-1."
Ruff added that he felt with the team playing its third game in less than four days it really contributed to some of the miscues and slow footedness that plagued them early on.
"We had some fatigue. It didn't seem like we skated very well. We found another gear but teams have tough schedules and we found a way."
Tatar agreed with his coach.
"It was an awful way to win but that's what good teams do. We had to overcome the fatigue," Tatar stated. "Third game in four nights. We had to simplify the game and I think we did. Got a huge goal at the end and won it in the shootout."
San Jose's first penalty of the game came two-and-a-half minutes into the middle frame when Matt Benning was called for interference.
Devils were unable to score but they used the momentum to start tiling the ice back in their favor. Shots on goal were 10-2 for the Devils over a five minute stretch to the game's midway point and 17-15 Sharks overall in the game.
After two, shots on goal were 20-19 for New Jersey.
Only 11 seconds into the final frame, Nico Hischier scored to knot the game up at 2-2.
Hughes was sent off for two minutes nearly four minutes into the third to put the Sharks back on the power play. Devils were able to kill off the penalty but seconds after it expired, the Sharks scored as Nick Bonino picked up a rebound in front of the net, spun and swept it past Vanecek to make it 3-2 for the home team.
Here are some observations from the game...
- The goal by Graves was the fastest to start a game this season by the Devils: 29 seconds. The last time the Devils had a faster goal it was last year's season opener against Chicago when Dougie Hamilton scored 17 seconds in. The goal by Nico Hischier to start the third was the fastest this season to start any period at 11 seconds. The prior high was also Hamilton, 30 seconds to start the third period on October 18 against Anaheim. - Graves is on a run offensively with points now in five straight games, including two goals. His plus/minus during this time is +10 over those five contests. Before the game, Ruff talked about Graves' contributions on both sides of the puck.

"He's had a real knack of defending well and has an offensive side of him that helps get involved in the offense. You can't be on the high-end of plus unless you're on for goals for. He has a sneaky way of getting involved offensively."

- The NHL's Situation Room clarified the game heading to an intermission early and the reasoning behind that:

At the discretion of the officials, a decision was made to end the period early with the final 3:59 to be played prior to the start of the second period due to a broken kickplate behind the net. The decision was made in accordance with Rule 77.3, which states, <em>"If any unusual delay occurs within five (5) minutes of the end of the first or second periods, the Referee may order the next regular intermission to be taken immediately. The balance of the period will be completed on the resumption of play with the teams defending the same goals after which the teams will change ends and resume play of the ensuing period without delay."</em>

- Four shots on goal in the opening period tied a season-low for the Devils, last occurring on December 3 at Philadelphia. - Devils went with the revamped forward lines that had success in the latter half of Saturday's win over the L.A. Kings:

Sharangovich - Hischier - Bratt  

Palat - Hughes - Tatar
Foote - Haula - Wood
Boqvist - McLeod - Mercer

Early in the second, the lines were shuffled again:

Haula - Hughes - Tatar  

Palat - Hischier - Bratt
Mercer - McLeod - Wood
Sharangovich - McLeod - Boqvist

Lines continued to be shuffled but Nolan Foote was played sparingly from this point on.