Devils 6, Golden Knights 5: Firewagon hockey

Powered by a Tyler Toffoli hat trick, the Devils came out on top in a back-and-forth affair.

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A few notes following an exhilarating win over the Vegas Golden Knights:

The Devils don’t quit

Many of the Devils’ biggest problems this season popped up once again vs. the Golden Knights.

The Devils fell behind the 8-ball early, conceding the opening goal of the game for the 32nd time in 45 games.

Vitek Vanecek gave the Devils poor goaltending for much of the night, conceding five goals on 32 shots (.844 SV%) and stopping only six of nine high-danger opportunities (.667 HDSV%).

The team was unable to stop the bleeding after allowing a goal, with one mistake opening the floodgates and a 3-1 lead turning into a 4-3 deficit within just a few shifts.

Given as much, it would have been easy for the injury-plagued Devils to roll over and concede two points. That didn’t happen.

The Devils dug their feet in the sand and played their asses off to get a much-needed result.

After going down 5-3, and finally getting a big save to avoid the nail being put in the coffin, the Devils ramped things up and skated the Golden Knights into the ground.

The Devils made a normally stout defense look as bad or worse than their own unit, which is missing four (4) NHL veterans on the backend.

I think that says a lot about this team and the drive they have. They don’t want poor goaltending or a bunch of injuries to waste a very talented roster. They don’t want to sit around and wait until Jack Hughes gets back, or Tom Fitzgerald finds a goalie upgrade, because by that point it may be too late.

They have taken it upon themselves to push back and get enough results to stay firmly in the mix – and that’s not easy given how many key guys they’re missing (and the fact the goaltending sucks almost every night).

Is it finally Timo Time?