Bratt point streak at 10, ties Devils record in win against Canucks

VANCOUVER --Jesper Bratt extended his point streak to 10 games to tie the New Jersey Devils record to start a season in their fourth straight win, 5-2 against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Tuesday.

Yegor Sharangovich and Jack Hughes each had a goal and an assist, and Mackenzie Blackwood made 21 saves for the Devils (7-3-0), who have won four in a row for the first time since Oct. 6-16, 2018.
"The energy in the room is really good," said Blackwood, who improved to 5-0-0 with a .962 save percentage against the Canucks. "Guys are having a lot of fun, loose before the games. It's an atmosphere in here we haven't had in a long time, so it's exciting."

Bo Horvat scored two power-play goals, J.T. Miller had two assists, and Thatcher Demko made 32 saves for the Canucks (2-6-2), who won their previous two games.
Vancouver was 2-for-5 on the power play but surrendered a short-handed goal, and New Jersey only needed eight seconds to score on its only man-advantage.
"They outworked us. When they outwork you, the success is going to follow," Canucks coach Bruce Boudreau said. "You give up a power-play goal in [eight] seconds, give up a short-handed goal, that's pretty well the ballgame."
Bratt, who had an assist, has 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in his NHL career-long point streak, which tied Tim Higgins from Oct. 12-Nov. 2, 1984.
"He's finding a way every night to get on the board," Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. "He's playing a team game and getting rewarded."
Bratt extended his streak on Nico Hischier's power-play goal to put New Jersey ahead 1-0 on their first shot at 4:36 of the first period. A cross-ice pass from Hughes found Bratt at the top of the right face-off circle, and he sent a pass to Hischier for a backdoor tap-in.
"We kind of had a set play," Hischier said. "Bratt is able to shoot, or if he sees something, he obviously can pass, and luckily he saw me there."

The goal extended Hughes' point streak to four games and seven points (three goals, four assists).
"That power-play goal was just tic-tac-toe and in the back of the net," Ruff said. "When you're doing all the right things and the puck is coming to you, and [Bratt] is playing with Jack, and those are two dynamic players on the same line, so he's taking advantage of the opportunities."
Michael McLeod tapped in a backdoor rebound off the right pad of Demko at 18:04 to make it 2-0 after a Miles Wood shot off the boards was tipped in front.
Dawson Mercer made it 3-0 with a short-handed goal at 9:25 of the second period on a 2-on-1 cross-ice pass from Sharangovich.
Sharangovich extended the lead to 4-0 at 11:37 on a 2-on-1 pass from Jesper Boqvist set up by a long breakout pass from John Marino.
"He's a smart player," Hischier said of Sharangovich. "He can read plays and that's why he's on the PK as well. He's really smart, he has great positioning. You get those chances if you're in the right spot, and he's a guy that can for sure bury the puck."

Horvat scored on a power-play one-timer from the left hash mark at 16:23 to cut it to 4-1 and made it 4-2 at 17:12 of the third period with another power-play goal on a 6-on-4 with Demko pulled for an extra attacker.
"Obviously the puck's going in right now," said Horvat, who leads the Canucks with eight goals. "I'd rather be getting wins than scoring goals right now. I'd rather have none and be obviously 9-0, but it's not the way it's going right now."
Hughes scored into an empty net at 18:58 for the 5-2 final.
NOTES: Jack Hughes improved to 4-1-0 head-to-head against his brother, Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes, who had an assist in 26:10 after missing four games with a lower-body injury. Jack has seven points (four goals, three assists) in the series; Quinn has three assists. … Defenseman Ethan Bear played 18:01 in his Canucks debut after being acquired in a trade with the Carolina Hurricanes on Friday, and center Jack Studnicka was minus-1 in 9:02 in his Vancouver debut after being acquired in a trade with the Boston Bruins on Thursday. … Canucks defenseman Riley Stillman blocked two shots in 18:10 after missing four games with an undisclosed injury.