Devils 3, Oilers 0: Flipping the script

The Devils followed up a 3-0 defeat in Alberta with a shutout victory of their own.

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A few notes following New Jersey’s 3-0 victory in Edmonton:

Jake Allen stole the show 📺

In a game featuring stars Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, Timo Meier, Dougie Hamilton, Evan Bouchard, and Leon Draisaitl, among others, it was a veteran backup goaltender who made the biggest impact on the game.

The Devils took an early lead and were happy to sit on it, in a way, relying on defensive zone structure to absorb pressure and then explode for the occasional high-end chance on the counter-attack.

The Devils defended well in stretches. They worked as a five-man unit, supported all over the ice, and did a good job of getting sticks in lanes to disrupt passes or take away prime shooting angles.

Even so, they gave up plenty of quality opportunities by default from spending so much time in the defensive zone without the puck. Not to mention, there were a couple of breakaway opportunities for the Oilers on counter-attacks of their own. Allen was there to slam the door shut each time.

Allen stopped 31 of 31, including all 11 high-danger shots he faced. HDSV% has been a weak point for the Devils thus far so that was certainly a sight for sore eyes.

Sure, Leon Draisaitl accounted for zero of them. Sure, Connor McDavid wasn’t playing. But the Oilers still feature plenty of other dangerous weapons and none could beat Allen.

We have seen peaks and valleys from Allen so far but he’s now saved 2.2 goals above expectation through five appearances. You absolutely take that from your backup.

Hughes and Bratt made magic 🪄