Here are some observations from the game:
• Bratt is arguably the hardest working player on the team. His teammates thrust effusive praise upon the time he spends on the ice and in the gym. And hard work sometimes will help you create some luck. That’s exactly what happened for Bratt on his second period goal.
Bratt had the puck in the circle and threw a puck toward the net. Ondrej Palat was standing right in front of goalie Philipp Grubauer, taking away his vision. Grubauer managed to get his blocker on Bratt’s shot, but the puck ricocheted from blocker to Kraken defenseman Adam Larsson and into the net. Just like a ping pong ball.
"It was a great screen in front by Palat. That creates a chaos situation where no one really knows where the puck is," Bratt said. "When you keep shooting sometimes it bounces off of someone and goes in."
• Meier scored his 200th career NHL goal with a little luck. A shot was taken on goal when Grubauer tried to cover it with his glove. He missed, but no worries, it went to teammate Vince Dunn. However, Dunn’s clear attempt actually went off the post behind Grubauer and died in the crease. That’s where Meier pounced to knock it over the goal line.
"Maybe a puck bounced our way, but you have to earn those sometimes," Meier said. "I looked back and it was a weird play. But you take thoes. It ended up being the game-winner."
• Meier became just the second Swiss-born player to reach 200 goals (Nino Niederreiter, 232)
"It's nice. When you grow up in Switzerland and your dream is to play in the NHL," Meier said. "Time flies by and the next thing you know you score 200 goals. You reflect on that and realizing how nice it is to be in this position."
• It took Luke Hughes 20 games, but he finally broke through with his first goal of the season. And what a beauty if was. It was very, uh, Jack-like. Luke, who received the puck from his brother Jack, skated into the low far circle and roofed a shot over the shoulder of goaltender Philipp Grubauer and just under the crossbar. The puck went in and out of the net so fast that Grubauer didn’t even realize Luke had scored.
“Twenty games was enough for me,” Luke joked. “Good for me to break through and a big one for our team.”
• For Luke, his goal was a bit of amends. He was on the ice when Burakovsky scored the game’s opening goal for Seattle. Luke was backing up at the blue line and Burakovsky was able to get around him for a lane to the net to score his goal.
"(Luke) probably wants to defend that first goal a little differently, a little but better, but he responds," head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "Big goal to get us back into it. Those are the encouraging things. And he's been so solid for us defensively. For it not to go his way tonight early, and tonight's the game he gets one in is fitting."
• The Devils got a boost to their lineup with the return of forward Tomas Tatar. He missed the previous two games with a lower-body injury. He returned by working with Erik Haula and Dawson Mercer.
