Meier scores hat trick, Devils defeat Blues for 1st win under Green

NEWARK, N.J. -- Timo Meier scored a hat trick and had an assist, and the New Jersey Devils got their first win under coach Travis Green, 4-1 against the St. Louis Blues at Prudential Center on Thursday.

Green replaced Lindy Ruff, who was fired Monday. New Jersey lost 5-3 to the Florida Panthers in Green’s debut Tuesday.

"Anytime you get a first one with a team, it's always nice," Green said. "And game puck ... one that I'll keep for sure."

Ondrej Palat, John Marino and Nico Hischier each had two assists, and Nico Daws made 23 saves in his fourth start in the past five games for the Devils (31-28-4), who ended a three-game losing streak.

"Winning is a lot more fun and now we got to keep this feeling," Meier said. "We got to work on our game, keep building. We've got enough games left (19) where we believe we can still make a big push and put ourselves in a position where we have a shot at the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

"I think that's what we got to believe, but we got to come in every day, work hard with our coaches, and individually work on your game. That's how we can do it if everybody chips in."

Brandon Saad scored, and Jordan Binnington made 29 saves for the Blues (32-28-3), who have lost two straight and five of their past seven (2-4-1).

"I thought we were running really late in the first period. In the defensive zone there was a lot of stick checking instead of going through bodies," St. Louis coach Drew Bannister said.

Meier gave the Devils a 1-0 lead with a power-play goal at 13:24 of the first period, scoring with his backhand from the slot. Meier was working on the top power-play unit in the spot usually occupied by Tyler Toffoli, who was held out of the game for trade-related reasons.

"We addressed [Toffoli] at our 5:30 meeting," Green said. "We've got a young group and some of them haven't gone through something like this, but this is kind of normal business in the NHL when things like this happen. It shouldn't change our focus."

Meier pushed it to 2-0 on a snap shot from the slot at 16:04.

"[Meier's] a big part of the group, and making sure that he gets going is important," Green said. "It has been a little rocky for him at times to find his game, but I think he's just feeling better about himself right now."

Daws made six saves in the first period, including consecutive stops against Jake Neighbours from in front during a Blues power play at 17:48.

"We find ourselves down 2-0 and then we decide that, you know, we want to be physical," Bannister said. "We spent less time in our defense zone in the second and the third and were able to maintain and get our forecheck going and spend some time in the offensive zone. But it was too late."

Saad cut it to 2-1 at 9:03 of the second period, scoring on a snap shot from the bottom of the left face-off circle after Scott Perunovich hit the right post on a shot from the high slot.

"It's frustrating," Blues forward Robert Thomas said. "We're getting lots of chances, but it's not good enough. We got to find a way get going."

Meier scored his third goal on a snap shot from the high slot at 16:40 to push it to 3-1. It was Meier's fifth NHL hat trick and first with the Devils. He also has six goals during a four-game goal streak, and nine points (six goals, three assists) during a five-game point streak.

Erik Haula scored an empty-net goal at 19:01 of the third period for the 4-1 final.

"It was definitely a good 60-minute game," Green said. "Defensive commitment was one of the things we talked about before the game, playing a 200-foot game. Everyone's making a run and games are tightening up, so you got to be committed to playing that way."

NOTES: Thomas played a Blues-high 23:59 and went 14-for-25 on face-offs. ... Palat had two blocked shots and two takeaways in 15:34 in his return to the lineup after missing one game because of a lower-body injury. ... New Jersey defenseman Simon Nemec played 17:34 and had one shot on goal in his return after he was a healthy scratch for a 5-3 loss to the Florida Panthers on Tuesday. ... Hischier had five shots on goal, three takeaways, two blocked shots and was 12-for-23 on face-offs in 19:37 of ice time.