Meier, Toffoli Send Devils into Break on a High Note | GAME STORY

NEWARK, NJ - It was both holiday and Timo Time at Prudential Center on Saturday night. With plenty of in-game cheer, the Devils provided the same on the ice, led by Timo Meier and his two-goal night. 

The Devils beat the Red Wings 3-2 with a victory that snapped a three-game skid for New Jersey. 

"We found a way to get those two points, I don't think we played our best game, but we found a way to win this game at home here before Christmas break, so definitely a good feeling." 

Heading into the holiday break on a high was paramount for the club, and as a full-team effort, backstopped by Vitek Vanecek, the club got the job done. 

"It was our last game before having a few days off, we wanted to get the two big points," Toffoli said, "To be able to do it in regulation was really big for us."

Timo Meier twice tied the game, first at 1 and then at 2 and Tyler Toffoli added the game-winner with 7:15 to play. Meier, who scored his first goal in nine games on Thursday night, now has three goals in his past two.

"It's kind of like the good old ketchup bottle effect," Meier said post-game of his three goals in two games, "It feels really good to get the win. I feel like tonight we were in the same situation that we were before in the game against Edmonton and we managed it way better today."

'The situation' Meier is referring to is giving up an early goal to the opponent in the first period. 

Patrick Kane opened the scoring of the game at 4:22 of the first period and Meier replied at 11:43.

"Just realizing you're in a tight game, just manage the puck, that's the biggest thing," Meier continued, "Make smart decisions, not throwing pucks away, being smart. Especially when we're tight and connected in the D-zone, we cleaned up some stuff and our goalie made some big save too to help us get those two points."

Meier’s second goal came at 2:46 of the third period, after the Red Wings took a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes. 

Defenseman Shane Gostisbehere scored Detroit’s second goal.

New Jersey finished the game with 35 shots on net. 

The Devils head into their holiday break on a winning note, snapping a three-game skid with a couple of days to rest and recharge.

Here are some observations from the game:

• Michael McLeod played a key role on Meier's first goal, doing the dirty work, driving to the net to create havoc in front of Michael Hutchinson. From McLeod's play, the puck popped loose for an unattended Meier for the goal. 

“If it wasn’t for that line, we probably don’t get back in the game,” head coach Lindy Ruff praised the McLeod line. “We know what Timo can do, and I think maybe this can be a springboard for him.”

• The Devils finally got a call going their way when Lucas Raymond was called for interference on Alexander Holtz. New Jersey broke a streak of 122:58 without a power play. The last time, before this evening, the Devils had a power play was against the Philadelphia Flyers at the 1:44 mark of the second period.

The power play went 0-for-4, while the penalty killers were a perfect 3-for-3.

"You knew it was going to come eventually, but it struggled," Ruff said post-game, "I think some of our puck decisions where we put it weren’t good, I thought the later (power play), the shots Toffoli got, we put a couple of righties to switch things up a little bit, was better. But some of our decisions with the puck weren’t the right decisions. I think when you start to struggle a little bit, you press a little bit and we weren’t getting much done with it.

"On the other side, I thought our penalty killing was real good.”

• In a complete freak accident, two Red Wings collided in the final few minutes of the second and both had to be helped off the ice by their teammates. Jeff Petry was cutting through the ice, defending against Dawson Mercer, with Christian Fischer streaking through the middle of the ice. Mercer split between the two, but Fischer's momentum was too great to stop and the two Red Wings hit into one another, head-first.

Both players were tended to by their team trainers and neither returned for the remainder of the game.

• Nathan Bastian was able to play after being considered a game-time decision. Bastian missed Friday's practice for a maintenance day.

• Colin Miller missed his second consecutive game after the birth of his first child on Thursday.