Schmid makes 37 saves, Devils hand Kraken 6th straight loss

SEATTLE -- Akira Schmid made 37 saves, and the New Jersey Devils handed the Seattle Kraken their sixth straight loss, 2-1 at Climate Pledge Arena on Thursday.

Simon Nemec scored his first NHL goal for the Devils (13-10-1), who have won five of six.

“When you’ve got a one-goal lead, it’s an uncomfortable feeling, but you have to execute the right plays,” New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. “I think tonight was a step again in the right direction."

Tye Kartye scored for the Kraken (8-13-6), who are 0-5-1 in their past six. Philipp Grubauer made 15 saves.

“We played our tails off tonight,” Seattle coach Dave Hakstol said. “I mean, it's a hard outcome, right? We played against a good hockey team, we played really hard. We made a couple of mistakes. That's the nature of the beast, and ... we're not getting the benefit of some of the hard work."

Ondrej Palat gave the Devils a 1-0 lead at 17:14 of the first period after Nico Hischier made a cross-ice pass to John Marino, who found Palat at the top of the crease. Palat redirected the feed into an open net.

“Good play by Nico and then Johnny, great pass to me,” Palat said. "It hit my skate. Lucky enough it went in.”

Kartye tied it 1-1 at 7:12 of the second period with a wrist shot from the slot. Alex Wennberg passed from below the goal line, and Kartye shot it over Schmid’s glove.

"That's kind of what the blueprint is for us,” Kartye said. “We’ve got to do that a little more, kind of just get the puck to the bottom and try and get the puck in the slot to create more chances."

Nemec, the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, restored the Devils lead, making it 2-1 at 9:08 with a snap shot from the high slot after Jesper Bratt circled behind the net and found Nemec skating in from the point.

“I didn’t think,” Nemec said. “I didn’t even celly or something. It’s there. I was really happy. I didn’t look happy, but I was. First goal, you’ll remember forever.”

Nemec has a goal and two assists in his first three NHL games.

“Another strong game [from Nemec],” Ruff said. “He was able to jump in and find a lane, great shot. He had a couple opportunities where he was in on good offensive plays. His hockey sense, his ability to pick the right time is good.”

The Kraken pressed in the third and outshot the Devils 16-3, but Schmid stopped every shot he faced in the period to earn the win.

“He helped us win a hockey game,” Ruff said. “Solid performance. There were a couple opportunities where they could have gained some momentum, and he made big saves for us.”

Seattle has not held a lead over its six-game skid.

“Obviously, right now, it’s not working,” Wennberg said. “But I feel like the belief is in the team. We're all together here, and we're finding something. We're going to grow from this and become better, and right now we’ve just got to find a way to get the first one. After that, we’re going to keep rolling.”

NOTES: Bratt's assist was his fourth point in three games (two goals, two assists). ... Kraken forward Andre Burakovsky, playing his first game after missing 20 with an upper-body injury, sustained an undisclosed injury. He left the bench with 3:01 remaining in the second, returned for two shifts in the third and then remained on the bench. Hakstol confirmed Burakovsky was "unavailable."