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The Devils begin a four-game road trip starting in Minnesota on Saturday night. The game can be seen on MSGSN and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 8:08 p.m. ET.
Here are some observations from the game...
- Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood played his first game since Jan. 26 at Nashville - exactly two weeks ago. And it took all of one minute for him to get tested. The Kraken had a 2-on-1 opportunity with Ryan Donato holding the puck. He made a pass across to Jaden Schwartz. Blackwood had to make a sliding split pad save on the puck. It was a nice read considering Donato scored twice on Blackwood in the previous contest in Seattle and he could have easily sold out on the shot. Instead, he played it perfectly. Blackwood made numerous high-quality saves throughout the game to win his first game since Jan. 14 at Los Angeles.
"He had a lot of big saves," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "I'm so happy (Blackwood) played that well. ... It had been 14 days last time he played. To give us that effort, it's fantastic. I hope that just fuels his game."
"This one feels good today," Blackwood said. "I'm not too disappointed with the way I played over the last couple games ... I liked where my game was at and I liked the way it was building. This is just the reward for sticking with it."
- Dougie Hamilton continued his offensive explosion. He scored two Devils' power-play tallies. The goals gave him 51 points on the season, setting a new career high (50, 2016-17). And he still has 31 games to go to add on.
- The scores also extended his point streak to six games and 13 points (5g-8a). Since Dec. 21, Hamilton has 27 points (8g-16a), tying Erik Karlsson (27) for most points among NHL defenseman in that span.
"An opportunity to play with good plays is pretty much it for me," Hamilton said of his offensive play. "I don't think about it too much. I just try to keep playing, get better. I think I can play better still. I'll try to keep improving and finish off strong."
- Speaking of Hamilton's first power-play goal, a lot of credit belongs to Tomas Tatar. That's where Tatar gained inside leverage on Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak after a faceoff loss to gain possession. The Devils then worked the puck around to Hamilton to finish the play. Hischier didn't end up with an assist on the play, but he deserves one.
"Tatar had his legs on," said Ondrej Palat, who finished with two assists in the game. "He had a great forecheck and won the battle. That whole goal was on Tatar."
- One final note on the Devils' power-play goal. The Kraken's penalty kill unit had been absolutely spectacular entering the game. They had gone eight straight games without allowing a power-play goal, an 18-for-18 run. The Devils needed all of seven seconds to end that streak. And then they added another.
- Meanwhile, the Devils penalty killing unit got the job done. They killed three power-play chances against, including 64 seconds worth of a 5-on-3.
- Center Jack Hughes missed the game with an upper-body injury. He was listed as week-to-week.
