Daws helps Devils defeat Ducks in shootout

NEWARK, N.J. -- Nico Daws made 33 saves and did not allow a goal in his first NHL shootout to help the New Jersey Devils defeat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 at Prudential Center on Saturday.

Tomas Tatar and Jesper Bratt scored in the tiebreaker, and the rookie goalie made saves against Trevor Zegras and Troy Terry in his seventh straight start for the Devils (22-32-5), who went 3-1-0 on a four-game homestand.
"It feels really good to win it," Daws said. "It's been a rollercoaster; we've had some ups and a little bit of downs, but I think overall it's been a lot of fun. That's the one thing I can say ... it's been more fun than anything."
Terry scored, and Anthony Stolarz made 39 saves for the Ducks (27-24-10), who have lost the first three of a five-game road trip that continues at the New York Islanders on Sunday.
"Shootouts are one of those things where it's kind of hit or miss," Zegras said. "I mean, I think for the most part of the season we've been pretty good in the shootout (4-5), but you got to give credit to their goalie. He made a couple of good saves on me and Troy. It's just the way it goes sometimes."

New Jersey center Jack Hughes had his 13-game home point streak end (21 points; nine goals, 12 assists).
Terry scored at 11:02 of the first period for a 1-0 lead on a snap shot from the top of the right face-off circle and through a screen to become the first Ducks player to score 50 points (29 goals, 21 assists) in a season since 2017-18 (Rickard Rakell, 69; Ryan Getzlaf, 61).
Tatar tied it 1-1 at 2:39 of the second period, taking a pass from Jesper Boqvist in the right face-off circle and scoring on a wrist shot skating into the slot.
"I think we're becoming more and more mature as a team as the season is going," Tatar said. "We know how to play tighter now. We're hard to play against. We don't give up that many opportunities on either side, so it's great to see. I'm looking forward to the next games. It's very much fun to play right now."
Daws made a save with his left pad on a wrist shot by Terry in front of the goal crease at 18:30 of the second.
"We've been given that opportunity to just keep playing him through games," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "I think that's a good feeling for a goaltender. I think a goaltender always worries that if he has a bad game, if he's going to go back in. We've allowed him to kind of take the ball and run with it."
Stolarz, born in Edison, N.J., had a blocker save against Pavel Zacha, who stole the puck and took a wrist shot alone in the slot at 2:46 of the third period while shorthanded. Stolarz denied Dawson Mercer with his pad while sliding to his left at 8:44.
"I think I had a little more pep in my step at the start since I had probably about 50-to-75 friends and family in the building," Stolarz said. "Obviously I would have loved to get the two points, but there's just something about playing back here in my home state, and it's a lot of fun."

Stolarz stopped a backhand attempt by Hughes with his left pad on a partial breakaway at 3:27 of overtime.
Zegras played against Hughes, his longtime friend and former teammate with the USA Hockey National Team Development Program (2017-19) for the first time in the NHL. Hughes was selected No. 1 and Zegras No. 9 in the 2019 NHL Draft. Hughes had a game-high six shots in 23:02; Zegras had two shots in 20:53.
"It was definitely weird, it didn't feel right playing him," Zegras said. "Something about lining up against him and seeing him out there, it was definitely a little funny. But at the end of the day, we're all competitors, and after you see him a couple times, you just dial it in. Obviously he's an unbelievable player, and whenever he was on the ice I was making sure he was nowhere near the net."
Said Ducks coach Dallas Eakins, "Hughes and Zegras looked like twins out there. They kind of hold their sticks the same way, their posture is the same when they skate. It was peculiar to me to really watch them like that together."
NOTES: Anaheim defenseman Josh Manson played 20:01 and had an assist, two hits and two shots after missing 13 games with an upper-body injury. ... Ruff passed Al Arbour for fifth on the NHL games coached list with 1,608. Scotty Bowman is first with 2,141. ... Devils forward Nathan Bastian played his 100th NHL game. … Ducks forward Adam Henrique had his three-game goal streak end.