Detroit @ New Jersey preview
Prudential Center
Last Meeting ( Nov 22, 2023 ) New Jersey 0, Detroit 4
The New Jersey Devils will be looking to snap a three-game losing streak before the holiday when they host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday night in Newark, N.J.
All of those losses came at home, most recently on Thursday when they gave up four unanswered goals to the Edmonton Oilers in the third period of a 6-3 defeat.
"You have to get out of it together," captain Nico Hischier said. "We're all frustrated. That's when teams get together, dig deeper. We want to come out as a group."
The Oilers scored two goals in the first six minutes of the contest. New Jersey rallied to take a 3-2 lead into the final period but fell apart in the last 20 minutes.
"Our first puck play we hand it to them and spot them a couple of goals," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "That's on me. I didn't have the team ready."
New Jersey didn't generate any power-play opportunities. The Devils also had 14 giveaways, compared to four by Edmonton.
"When you're breaking out and you turn the puck over, you're not in good defensive position," Ruff said. "We didn't win enough battles. We didn't beat enough people to the net. And then when we had opportunities to shoot even in the third period, we didn't want to shoot."
The meeting between the Wings and Devils will be the rubber match of the three-game season series.
Jack Hughes scored two goals on opening night as New Jersey edged Detroit, 4-3. In the rematch, Alex Lyon made 16 saves to record a shutout in a 4-0 Wings' victory on Nov. 22.
Hughes hasn't posted a goal since recording a hat trick in New Jersey's 6-3 win over Columbus on Dec. 16.
The Red Wings will be playing the second game of a back to back. They snapped a four-game losing streak by recording a 7-6 shootout victory over Philadelphia on Friday.
Detroit scored a total of just six goals during its slide, including a 1-0 loss at the Flyers a week ago.
Prior to Friday's win, Detroit had gone 1-6-1 in its previous eight outings.
The Red Wings raced to a 5-1 lead in the first period in Friday, then allowed five unanswered goals. Captain Dylan Larkin scored the tying goal to send the game into overtime.
"This is big for confidence. We really just needed to get a win," Red Wings coach Derek Lalonde said. "There were obviously some discouraging moments where we had coverage mistakes and unfortunately every coverage mistake is going in right now."
Patrick Kane had his best outing since signing with the Red Wings as a free agent. The four-time All-Star had two goals and an assist during the first-period barrage. He added the clinching goal during the shootout.
"I think sometimes when you are in a slump, you just need something to go your way," Kane said. "We obviously had a great start, but when it gets to be 5-3 and 5-4, maybe a little doubt sets in. I thought we did a great job of hanging in there and Larks got a big goal to make it 6-6, and then we got another point in the shootout."
--Field Level Media