Here are some observations from the game:
• Mercer has really been feeling himself lately. He scored two goals against the Penguins and has three goals in the past four games (it could have been four goals in four games, but his tally in Vegas was disallowed due to goaltender interference).
Mercer scored an unbelievable goal at Dallas. It was another highly-skilled goal he scored against Pittsburgh. Mercer took a pass in the neutral zone with former Devils defenseman Ryan Graves backing off the blue line. Mercer faked like he was going to skate wide and got Graves leaning that way. Then Mercer cut back to the inside through a wide-gap between Graves and his partner Erik Karlsson. Mercer skated toward the net and it was Graves’ attempt at swatting the puck from Mercer that would knock the black rubber through the legs of an unsuspecting Tristan Jarry for the goal.
“We’ll keep that on the low. It still counts,” Mercer said of Graves knocking the puck in. “Graves is a great buddy of mine. I liked playing with him. I didn’t really look at him after that.”
Mercer added his second halfway through the third period after taking a pass from Tomas Nosek and beat Jarry on the backside.
“I feel like I’ve been trying to stick with it the full season and take it day by day. Tonight, it felt great to get an early goal like that,” said Mecer who opened the scoring at 5:35 of the first period. “You can’t complain when you get another one. So, I was happy.”
• Meier continues to roll. He scored his 20th goal of the season late in the second period on the power play to give New Jersey a 2-1 lead. Meier was working the net-front when he tipped in a shot from Luke Hughes from the point.
He added another tip goal on a power play late in the third period for his 21st tally of the year.
Meier has 10 goals in his past 10 games. He also has 14 points (10g-4a) in his past 11 contests.
“He looks like a different player. He’s confident. He’s skating. He’s physical,” Green said.
• I like seeing the versatility of Meier on the power play. Sometimes he sets up at the right flank for the one-timer. Other times, he sets up as the net-front looking for tip and rebounds.
• Holtz was elevated to a line with Jack Hughes and Erik Haula. It’s the best opportunity he’s had all season, and he made the most of it. In the third period, Holtz cut to the net as Hughes put a shot on goal. The rebound popped right out to Holtz in the slot and he buried it to give the Devils an all-important two-goal lead.
“There are certain things that we’ve been looking for out of players and he’s been trying to do that,” Green said. “When a player is doing that, we try to reward him. He’s been trying to do that. That was the reason behind it. He’s trying to play quicker, trying to play better away from the puck. And be stronger on pucks. When you see effort with a young player, I think it’s important to reward him.”
• Jake Allen has been absolutely lights out in goal for the Devils. Entering the game, the 33-year-old tender had stopped 68 of his last 70 shots against. But he made arguably his best save in black and red against Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby in the first period. Crosby found the puck in the slot and showed incredible patience, getting Allen to bite and drop to his knees. Crosby then pulled the puck to the side for an open shot. Allen, though, in desperation just reached back with his blocker and got a hand on it for the save.
"(Crosby) walked out in front of the net. A good move on his part to be patient. He waited me out," Allen said. "That’s luck. That’s desperation but a lot of luck in there. Sometimes you’re lucky, sometimes you’re not."
• The Devils hit four posts/crossbars in the game, two of them off the stick of Nico Hischier. Simon Nemec and Jesper Bratt all clanged iron. It was unfortunate for Bratt, who hasn’t scored a goal in his last 10 games. That could have gone a long way to help his confidence.
• Ondrej Palat, Luke Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Jack Hugehs and Tomas Nosek all had two assists each in the game.
