Hamilton's OT Winner Lifts Devils Over Blues | GAME STORY

Dougie Hamilton's overtime winner lifted the Devils to a 3-2 overtime victory against the St. Louis Blues Sunday afternoon at Prudential Center.
Hamilton tallied at 1:12 of the extra frame. New Jersey also received goals from Ty Smith and Dawson Mercer.
"I was just trying to read that and see where the play was going, jump by my guy if possible," Hamilton said. "I was able to do that and Pav made a great pass. I just put it in."
St. Louis goal scorers were Tory Krug and Jordan Kyrou, both goals came in the third period to erase a 2-0 deficit.

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The Devils continue their four-game homestand Tuesday against the Colorado Avalanche. The game can be seen on MSG+ and heard on the Devils Hockey Network, including right here at NewJerseyDevils.com. Puck drop is 7:08 p.m. ET.
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Here are some observations from the game...
- The Devils biggest strength is their speed. And they used it to exploit the slower and heavier Blues, just as they had in a 7-4 win at St. Louis in February. New Jersey created plays off the rush and through the neutral zone. In fact, the first two Devils' goals came off of rush plays. They won puck battles by winning foot races to pucks. The Devils overwhelmed the Blues - particularly early in the first period with St. Louis having played the afternoon before. It allowed them to build a 2-0 lead after two periods.

"One thing that was evident in our game in St. Louis, our speed gave them some problems," head coach Lindy Ruff said. "We felt if we could get out of our zone in a hurry, they're a really strong team, they're strong on the puck, they're hard to get off it, we thought in our transition game we could create some opportunities and we did. Some of those were loose puck races that we got to first coming out of the zone where we beat players up ice, two or three times caused them to take penalties. That is the strength of our team."

- Defenseman Ty Smith was put back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the previous three games. And he certainly returned with a bang. Smith jumped into a rush play as the late man when Jesper Bratt found him above the circles. Smith shot high for the tally.

"It's never fun sitting out. Time to reflect a little bit and take a step back," Smith said. "I just know I have to compete harder and keep working on my game.

"It's something I don't want to happen ever again."

While it's always a bonus to produce offensively, if Smith truly is going to reclaim his position in the lineup, it will have to be as a result of his work on the defensive side. He faired well in that department as well. Playing against a big, strong team like St. Louis is certainly a test for the 5-foot-11, 180-pound blueliner. And he passed. Now he needs to keep it going for the next game and the next.

"He had a good game," Ruff said. "He'd probably like a little better read on the second goal against, try to be a little tighter on coverage there. But overall, jumping back in for us and scoring a goal right off the bat is a step in the right direction for him."

- Smith's goal was the result of a great play by captain Nico Hischier, who now has 14 points (8G-6A) in his last 11 games. The Devils had a 3-on-2 through the neutral zone. Hischier carried and gained the blue line. He then dished to Bratt and cut to the net. It was Hischier's net drive that opened the passing lane for Bratt to find Smith.

"It was a great play by Nico entering the zone to Bratt," Smith said. "Great play by Bratt. It was a gift really. I just had to put it into the open net."

- Dawson Mercer's family - parents and sister - are in town, and he put on a show for them. In the second period, he scored his 14th goal of the season on a sweet finish off a cross-ice feed from Jack Hughes. Mercer caught the puck to bury the shot and pointed immediately to Hughes for proper credit on the impressive pass.

"The two defensemen went over there and I called for it," Mercer said. "(Hughes) knew I was there anyways I'm pretty sure. He sent that over. I just had to make sure I put that in the back of the net. A little appreciation pose there after for the celly."

But Mercer got it done in many different facets. He mixed things up with Tory Krug, both men received roughing penalties. And he made two diving stick plays during the game. On the first, there was a loose puck at the Blues blue line and St. Louis was looking to get up ice for an odd-man rush. Instead, Mercer dove to poke the puck away from danger. In the second period, there was a loose puck above the circle with New Jersey on the power play. Again, Mercer dove to poke the puck to his teammate and avoided a Blues clear. Mercer was getting it done all over the ice.

"I love when they make trips down. It's always nice to have family here," he said. "They supported me through it all and helped me get here. They've been a big part of it. … Just spending time with them is a good feeling."

- The Devils escaped the opening period with a 1-0 lead thanks to some good goaltending and some luck. Rookie Nico Daws slid from his right to his left and got his pad down to kick away a shot attempt by St. Louis' leading scorer Jordan Kyrou. Then Ivan Barbashev scored on a nice shot after carrying the puck from below the goal line - however, the clock had just expired. Thus, the goal did not count and New Jersey maintained its 1-0 advantage. - The Blues boast the No. 2-ranked power play in the NHL. New Jersey played a very disciplined game, not giving the Blues a man-advantage opportunity until late in the third period (on a highly sus tripping penalty to boot). The Devils PK unit, one of the league's best over the previous two months, successfully killed it off. But the key was limiting the Blues chances to a single advantage.

"We scream discipline all the time," Ruff said. "We want to keep our sticks off people. If you're in good position, a lot of times you don't have to take them. I believe we put ourselves in a position where we were above them a lot of the time so we weren't chasing them back."