The New Jersey Devils travelled up the West Coast to face off against the Seattle Kraken for the final game of their West Coast trip. After a poor performance on the trip so far, the Devils were looking to snap their losing streak. Lucky for them they were able to do it in this game, winning 3-2.

Game Recap

At 7:56, the action kicked off as the visitors drew the first goal of the night. Off a pass from Timo Meier, Nico Hischier took a shot at the net from in between the two faceoff circles. Phillipp Grubauer managed to save it, but Dawson Mercer grabbed the rebound and scored the first goal of the night. It took a little bit of time, but the Kraken were able to answer back eight minutes later. Andre Burakovsky made a shot attempt, but it was stopped by Jacob Markstrom. Adam Larsson got a hold of the saved puck, passing it up to Chandler Stephenson, who was up by the net. He did not have a clear shot, so he sent it down to Adam Larsson who was by the blue line. The former Devil skated up toward the bottom of the faceoff circle and took a shot, scoring the first goal of the night for the Kraken. As the period came to an end and the score tied 1-1, there was plenty of work to be done heading into the second.

The second bout of 20 minutes was full of shot attempts. The Devils had 11 while the Kraken only had four. However, it was that last Devils’ shot that really sealed the deal. With only 25 seconds left, they got to work. Johnathan Kovacevic sent the puck down the ice where it was caught by Mercer. He then sent it to Paul Cotter, who was able to score for the Devils. The home team did not like that and immediately caused a disturbance. Jonas Siegenthaler was forced to take a seat for two minutes after cross-checking Jaden Schwartz. In defense of their team, Brandon Montour and Brett Pesce each got a five-minute major for fighting. Things were heating up heading into the third period.

It was that power play that came in handy for the Kraken, as they were able to score their second of the night on the extra man advantage. Jared McCann shot the puck from the blue line to Kappo Kakko, who was up by the goal. From his vantage point, he was able to see Shane Wright in front of the net. Kakko passed to him, where he was able to net the second goal of the night for the Kraken just 1:24 into the third period. Just 37 seconds later, the Devils answered back. Jesper Bratt was able to skate the puck out of the Kraken scoring zone, sending it to Dougie Hamilton in the neutral zone. He powered through to the Devils’ scoring zone, where he passed to Jack Hughes by the boards. He saw Ondrej Palat in the middle of the faceoff circle and passed to him. Shooting the puck through the two Kraken defensemen, he was able to send it to the back of the net and solidify the win for the Devils.

Next Games

The Devils head back to the East Coast with the cryptid cup. They will face off against the New York Rangers on Thursday, Jan. 9. The Kraken will also head to the East Coast, facing off against the Columbus Blue Jackets also on Jan. 9.