Noesen scores 2 goals, Devils surge past Ducks with 4 in 2nd period

NEWARK, N.J. -- Stefan Noesen scored two goals to spark a four-goal second period for the New Jersey Devils in a 6-2 win against the Anaheim Ducks at Prudential Center on Sunday.

Dawson Mercer, Dougie Hamilton and Jonas Siegenthaler each had two assists, and Jacob Markstrom made 24 saves for the Devils (6-4-2), who were 0-2-2 in their previous four games.

"Obviously, when you win a hockey game on the road or at home it feels good," Mercer said. "To come away with two points here for us as a group and now have a travel day [Monday] to begin our (three-game) road trip, it's definitely a good feeling for us."

Ryan Strome had a goal and an assist, and James Reimer made 28 saves for the Ducks (3-4-1), who lost 2-1 at the New York Rangers on Saturday.

"There were a lot of weaknesses, and we don't have time to go over them," Anaheim coach Greg Cronin said. "We were porous through the neutral zone. That's a fast team; they attack the zone. If we don't stop it, it's going to be a long night."

Brock McGinn scored to give Anaheim a 1-0 lead at 4:47 of the first period on a snap shot from the top of left face-off circle.

"We're making mistakes where we're not backing each other up, kind of shooting ourselves in the foot sometimes," McGinn said. "You've got to keep it simple. You've got to get it in at their blueline and keep it out at yours. We didn't execute some of those."

Jack Hughes tied the game 1-1 at 1:16 of the second period on a backhand during a delayed penalty with Markstrom pulled for an extra attacker. Mercer made a back pass to Timo Meier, who went cross-ice to Hughes, who shot from the slot and then knocked in the rebound.

"I heard [Meier] ... he called for that puck," said Mercer, who turned 23 years old on Sunday. "When it goes your way and we're playing good hockey, it feels good. We put a lot of pucks on their net and kept a lot out of our zone."

Noesen made it 2-1 on a wrist shot from the high slot at 4:42 of the second and pushed it to 3-1 at 17:23 when he lifted the puck into the right corner from the slot for a power-play goal off the pass from Jesper Bratt.

"I spend a lot of time in front of the net, trying to tip pucks, work on my game down low," Noesen said. "My game is not pretty like some of these other guys. It's a little more nitty gritty and if you hone in one really good skill in this league it's being around the net.

"You see a guy like Joe Pavelski for 15 years, having that gift of being able to tip pucks and I take a lot of pride in being able to do that."

Paul Cotter scored 1:26 later to give the Devils a 4-1 lead on a wrist shot at the right post at 18:49.

"We had to stick to our game," Cotter said. "There's a lot of times at the start, guys are getting irritated, it's a new start and you just have to realize we're about 10-11 games in so we're OK. We're a good team; obviously everybody knows that. We've emphasized whether we're winning or losing, to just play the same way kind of stay calm."

Nico Hischier scored 1:50 into the third period to give the Devils a 5-1 lead on a wrist shot off a rush down his left wing.

Strome scored for the Ducks at 13:10 of the third on a wrist shot from the slot to pull the Ducks within 5-2.

Erik Haula scored on a breakaway with a snap shot at 19:01 of the third for the 6-2 final.

NOTES: Anaheim forward Troy Terry had an assist to extend his point streak to seven games (four goals, three assists). ... Devils forward Curtis Lazar is expected to miss some time after he did not return after sustaining a lower-body injury after a hit by Radko Gudas at 2:37 of the second period. Said New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe: "We're not sure how much time (Lazar will miss) at this point as he's still being evaluated." ... Mercer became the first Devils player to have multiple assists on their birthday since Blake Coleman (two goals, two assists) on Nov. 28, 2019. ... Hischier scored his League-leading ninth goal of the season and has four goals during a three-game goal streak. ... Bratt extended his assist streak to five games. ... Anaheim is last in the League with 18 goals in its eight games, averaging 2.25 per game.