Nedeljkovic has 17-save shutout for Red Wings in win against Devils

NEWARK, N.J. --Alex Nedeljkovic made 17 saves for the Detroit Red Wings in a 3-0 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Sunday.

It was the fourth shutout of the season for Nedeljkovic, who made 13 saves in 19:44 in relief of Thomas Greiss in the third period of the Red Wings' 7-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday.
"I think it was a big game for some guys to kind of rebound and right the ship, myself included," Nedeljkovic said. "We have to find a way to stop (what happened against Pittsburgh) from happening and come up with more of these kinds of performances like we did today."
Oskar Sundqvist and Tyler Bertuzzi each had a goal and an assist for Detroit (31-39-10).
Andrew Hammond made 21 saves for the Devils (27-44-8), who have lost five of six (1-3-2), including 3-2 in overtime against the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday. They played with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. New Jersey was without forward Nico Hischier (non-COVID related illness), and forward Jesper Bratt returned after not playing Saturday with an illness not related to COVID-19.
"When we're missing some of the speed in our game, when you take a Nico out and 'Bratter' is not up to speed, things have to get simple," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "We played well defensively, but the skill part of our game wasn't at a high enough level."

New Jersey's 17 shots on goal were a season low.
The Red Wings were without forward Dylan Larkin, who is out for the season after having core muscle surgery April 18, and forward Robby Fabbri (knee).
"Obviously, both teams are missing a number of key players so it's a different kind of game than it would be if both teams were at full strength," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. "There's going to be some limited offensive firepower, so you got to find a way to get a goal and ultimately we did."
Sundqvist gave Detroit a 1-0 lead at 15:48 of the first period on a snap shot from the right face-off circle following a turnover.
"Sundquist didn't feel great today, was still in pain (after blocking a shot against Pittsburgh), and he puts his gear on and makes sure he goes out and plays really hard, good hockey," Blashill said. "That's the type of example I think a number of our young guys need to have.
"Ultimately, what we'd like to do here is go on playoff runs and if you're going to do that you're going to have to learn how to play when you don't feel your best."

Yegor Sharangovich thought he had tied the game for the Devils at 19:06 of the second period, but the goal was overturned after the Red Wings challenged for offside.
"I think it was huge," Nedeljkovic said. "That was a big bounce for us to keep it 1-0. You could see they kind of got a little bit of jump out and were kind of feeling it right there."
Devils forward Tomas Tatar said, "It would have given us a little lift for sure, but we didn't have a lot of energy today. We were very disconnected and could not make the passes. It's hard to win a game that way."
Adam Erne had a goal disallowed for Detroit at 12:04 of the third period when video review determined Erne interfered with Hammond.
"I thought early in this third, we got loose, and 'Ned' made some big saves at that point," Blashill said. "I thought we did a pretty good job of playing the right way, and we kind of got it back after being loose in the early part of the third and then found our way to a win."

Bertuzzi made it 2-0 with an empty-net goal at 17:51, and Michael Rasmussen scored into an empty net at 19:47 for the 3-0 final.
"If you play the right way, that's going to carry over into next season, both as a team and as individual," Blashill said. "Two, it's way more fun to go back in the room after you win. I don't care where you're at in the year; it's just more enjoyable when you win. So we want to try to have that feeling over the next two games, but we also want to make sure we keep working and trying to play the right way."
NOTES:Detroit rookie defenseman Moritz Seider led all skaters in ice time (22:45) and blocked shots (two). ... Nedeljkovic is the first Red Wings rookie with at least four shutouts since Roger Crozier had six in 1964-65. ... New Jersey forward Jesper Boqvist had his NHL career-high four-game point streak end.