Hischier, Devils rally past Ducks for first win of season

NEWARK, N.J. -- Nico Hischier had a goal and an assist to help the New Jersey Devils rally for their first win of the season, 4-2 against the Anaheim Ducks at Prudential Center on Tuesday.

"It feels good," said Hischier, the New Jersey captain. "It would be a tough one if we were sitting here again, and not come out with a win. I think we battled hard again and that's our identity. We want to battle hard every game and if you keep battling that way, we're going to get more W's."
Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes each had two assists, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 18 saves for the Devils (1-2-0).
"If you're going to win games, you're going to need the production from your top six like we had tonight," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "I feel that production could have been a lot greater and we talked about that for three games. We missed opportunities tonight, but we persevered. We were facing some adversity, but Nico and his guys did a great job."
Ruff passed Al Arbour for fifth place on the NHL wins list with 783.

Jakob Silfverberg scored twice, and Anthony Stolarz made 37 saves in his first start of the season for the Ducks (1-3-0), who have lost three straight to start a five-game road trip.
"As the game went on, I thought we made some tired mistakes," Anaheim coach Dallas Eakins said. "We didn't manage their pushes or their pressure, and you've got to learn how to do that in back-to-back games."
Silfverberg, who missed a 6-4 loss at the New York Rangers on Monday because of an illness, scored on a snap shot from the left face-off circle for a 1-0 lead at 7:57 of the first period. He made it 2-0 from the slot at 13:08 after Blackwood lost his stick.
"I think that everything just kind of shifted in their way, the momentum," Silfverberg said. "We started making the hard play rather than the right play."

In the second and third periods, Ruff shortened his bench and used three lines.
"I put it on our veterans and just felt that we'd go with three lines," Ruff said. "Maybe use Michael McLeod and Nathan Bastian to kill penalties and McLeod for a few face-offs. I was just trying to breed a little bit of familiarity with putting Bratt up there (with Hischier and Ondrej Palat)."
Palat, who signed a five-year, $30 million contract ($6 million average annual value) July 14, scored his first goal for the Devils on a rebound from the right post to cut it to 2-1 at 4:17 of the second period.
"It takes time to know your teammates and play with them, but if you look at some of the down-low plays he made, where he was handling the puck and keeping the opposition on their back, that's the guy we saw a lot of," Ruff said. "The guy who's been very successful from the top of the circles, down."

Blackwood stopped Silfverberg on a slap shot from the left circle at 13:40, then stopped the rebound attempt by Isac Lundestrom with his left pad one second later.
"It's still early in the season and everyone panics a little bit after the first game," Blackwood said. "We didn't like our game last game, but it was important that we turned the page and do things the right way. I think the guys did a good job."
Hischier tied it 2-2 at 14:48 after the puck took a favorable bounce off the end boards at the right post and he pushed it past Stolarz.
Dougie Hamilton gave the Devils a 3-2 lead 33 seconds into the third period with a one-timer from the bottom of the left circle off a pass from Bratt.
"I was hoping Jesper would get that puck across," Hamilton said. "It was an unbelievable pass. I thought I was going to miss for sure, but it's almost one of those where it was too easy."
Dawson Mercer scored on a snap shot from the bottom of the right circle at 12:49 for the 4-2 final.
NOTES: Anaheim was 0-for-4 on the power play; New Jersey was 0-for-3. ... Stolarz, who was born in Edison, N.J., played minor hockey with the Devils' youth club. ... McLeod went 10-for-13 on face-offs (77 percent) in 8:03 of ice time. ... Hamilton had a game-high seven shots and 13 shot attempts in 23:46. … Ruff is 783-632-141 with 78 ties in 1,634 games with the Buffalo Sabres, Dallas Stars and Devils.