The stars shine in the New Jersey Devils’ 5-4 comeback victory over the Detroit Red Wings

Last season, on December 17, 2023, the Devils lost an ugly 5-1 game to the Anaheim Ducks. It was a game in which a vastly inferior Ducks team involved New Jersey in a heated exchange. The Devils were lured into calling stupid penalties for physicality and retaliation, and it cost them dearly. Almost a year later, it looked like today’s game would follow the same script. But despite some early stupidity and a 2-0 deficit, the Devils flipped the script and secured a 5-4 comeback victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Black Friday.

If you recall, the last game between these teams, the Devils lost 5-3 in October. New Jersey dominated puck possession, but the Red Wings took advantage of a bad night from Jacob Markstrom to win. The defining image of that game was Michael Rasmussen scoring an empty-net goal to seal it, while also knocking Jack Hughes off the puck, prompting Rasmussen to scream in Hughes’ face. It was part mockery, part celebration, and my goodness, it made the devils angry.

Sheldon Keefe and his players clearly had that priority in mind, and reintroducing Kurtis MacDermid to the lineup was the first sign of that. Then, shortly after the puck dropped, Brenden Dillon went out of his way to check Rasmussen on his own bench during transition, sending New Jersey to penalties for the first time in the game. Detroit would take advantage of a Vladimir Tarasenko wrister to take the lead. A few minutes later, Johnathan Kovacevic took on Rasmussen and sent both men into the penalty area.

New Jersey was too preoccupied with revenge to play well in the first ten minutes. It reminded me a lot of the game against the Ducks last December, where a vastly inferior team got so deep into the Devils’ heads that it rattled the entire team. After Lucas Raymond made it 2-0 just over nine minutes into the first minute, it looked like things were about to get out of hand.

But you have to thank the Devils, who calmed down after Raymond’s goal and were able to play their game again. After Paul Cotter converted a sharp penalty, New Jersey’s power play (more on that later) provided the team’s first goal in two games: a snap shot into the top corner by Dougie Hamilton. Detroit called for goaltender interference but was unsuccessful and was benched for delay of game. And wouldn’t you know it, New Jersey converted that power play too, as Timo Meier returned from his one-game suspension to fire a Red Wing one-timer in front of the net and past Cam Talbot to tie the game at 2 p.m., where the teams were sitting at the start of the second half.

From then on, New Jersey took control. The Red Wings scored the next goal to take a 3-2 lead, but the Devils scored three goals right after: a laser beam from Nico Hischier from the slot, a hard-working goal from Stefan Noesen from the front and a Jack Hughes power play goal . The Red Wings got to 5-4 but got no closer as Markstrom and the Devils closed the door on completing the comeback. Credit also goes to Markstrom, who allowed a softie or two today but also made some fantastic saves. He was also the victim of some pretty random puck luck for the Red Wings, namely perfect deflections and redirections, so I don’t want to attack Markstrom too harshly. He wasn’t the sharpest, but he answered the call when it mattered most.

Hamilton, Meier, Hischier, Hughes. The big boys came out strong for the Devils today. Add in the Noesen goal and it was a great day for the Devils offense. There were nights where depth helped New Jersey win, but today it was the stars. This game couldn’t have started much worse as the Devils’ desire for revenge led straight to the first ten minutes where the team was smashed as the game went on, scoring two goals. But after putting away the torches and pitchforks and realizing that Michael Rasmussen wasn’t worth their time, the Devils went back to playing their game.

And they have two points to show for it.

The game statistics: The NHL.com Game Recap | The NHL.com Event Summary | The NHL.com Play-by-Play Transcript | The NHL.com Shot Summary | The Natural Stat Trick game statistics

The game highlights: Courtesy of NHL.com

From the stars to the rising star

We’ve already talked about the Devils’ star players taking the lead today, but one player I didn’t mention was Luke Hughes. That’s because I think he deserves his own section even though he didn’t score a goal. The youngest Hughes brother was absolutely sensational today. He flew up and down the ice, providing offense with his elite skating and offensive instincts (the Noesen goal didn’t happen without him). He also shut down the Red Wings defensively with great stick technique and, you guessed it, his elite skating.

He provided an assist for Noesen’s goal and came close to his first goal of the season a couple of times tonight, putting four shots on net. If points or the old-fashioned eye test aren’t your thing, can I interest you in some advanced numbers? According to Natural Stat Trick, Hughes finished with a 5v5 xGF% of 78.22%. Hughes was on the ice with a whopping 3.17 xGF, leading the team, and he posted an individual goals-against rate of 0.27, leading all New Jersey defensemen.

Hughes’ pairing with Brett Pesce has been big money this season. It really feels like Keefe and the Devils have something special with the mix of Pesce’s defense and Hughes’ offense. However, I don’t want to belittle Hughes’ defense as he has taken a big step forward in that regard since his rookie season. Honestly, it’s crazy that Hughes hasn’t found the net yet and only managed five assists today with his helper. There is a feeling that the floodgates are about to open and we should prepare to see Luke on the scoresheet alongside his brother Jack on a regular basis soon.

Power play to the rescue

Three more power play goals for New Jersey. They also had a man advantage three times in their last game against Detroit, which makes sense considering the Red Wings rank last in the league in penalty kill efficiency. In the first few months of the season, the Devils really buried their teams with a deadly power play.

But unlike last season, where the power play conversion rate seemed unsustainable, it really feels like New Jersey can continue to rake in around 25-30%. John wrote about the power play at Thanksgiving. It’s a great insight into what New Jersey is doing and how it can be sustained.

The other reason I’m not worried about the Devils perhaps relying too much on the power play is because the 5-on-5 system looks pretty strong so far. For example, today the Devils finished with an xGF% of 68.41% per Natural Stat Trick, which is outstanding. In most cases, New Jersey is slightly worse offensively than last season, but is also significantly stronger defensively, which more than makes up for the decline on offense.

So the underlying numbers look strong, which could be an indicator that we expect more 5v5 goals. But right now, the power play has become an incredible weapon for the Devils. The man advantage almost saved the day last game against Detroit, and it actually saved the day tonight.

Hello darkness, my old friend

Thanks to Tarasenko’s opening goal in today’s game, the Devils have now allowed their first goal in six straight games. New Jersey is 4-2-0 in those games, so that hasn’t been a problem for the most part, but it’s still difficult having to watch every single game. Of course, it was a huge, borderline historic problem last season, and the Devils have been much better at starting the 2024-25 season on the right foot until this most recent stretch. I would be very happy to return to the first ranking.

The last man standing goes down

Curtis Lazar, Nate Bastian and Tomas Tatar formed a reasonably strong fourth line at times. Granted, it was only a few games, but their performances in those games were promising. Well, Lazar and Bastian suffered injuries and were each out for a while, so Tatar is the last remaining member of that fourth line.

But in the first period, Tatar suffered what the Devils call a “lower-body injury” and he did not return for the remainder of the contest. According to the replays shown on the MSG broadcast, it looked like he stumbled awkwardly into the end boards when he was hit.

New Jersey is notorious for treating player injury information like the nuclear codes. So don’t expect much from them as far as Tatar’s immediate status is concerned. We’ll just have to watch to see if Tatar returns to training or morning runs soon.

The next time

This is the start of a back-to-back game with New Jersey returning home to take on the Washington Capitals tomorrow. Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.

Your opinion

What did you think of today’s game? Did Luke Hughes impress you as much as he did me? What do you expect against the Capitals tomorrow? As always, thanks for reading!