Pavel Zacha scored the Devils eighth shorthanded goal of the season It was his first career SHG. Ben Lovejoy 1G-1A for his second 2PT-game of the campaign. He is 8PTS away from 100 in his NHL career (18G-74A-92PTS). His shorthanded assist on Zacha's goal was the first SHP of his NHL career.
Nico Hischier, scored his 12TH goal of the season and has points in a season-high four-straight games (3G-4A-7PTS). The Brig, Switzerland native leads all European-born NHL rookies in points.
Taylor Hall and Sami Vatanen assisted on Hischier's marker. Hall extended his career-high, point-streak to 10 games, Jan. 3o-Feb. 17 (6G-7A-13PTS). It is the longest-such streak in franchise history and the the longest active streak in the league. Hall also extended his personal scoring streak to 17 straight games, 11G-14A-25PTS from Jan. 2-Feb. 17.
Vatanen added a second assist for his second multi-assist and has 4A (4PTS) over the last three games, Feb. 11-16.
Eddie Lack made a career-high 48 saves for his first win as a Devil (also career-high 51 shots against).
Miles Wood scored the game-winner and led NJD with four penalty minutes.
TONIGHT @ CAROLINA HURRICANES
This evening's contest marks the second of four meetings between the Metropolitan Division teams this season. The Devils lead the season-series, 1-0-0, after their 5-2 victory on Thursday, Feb. 15. (also; Mar. 2 @ CAR, Mar. 27 @ NJD). Kyle Palmieri notched the game-winner, while Nico Hischier had 1G-2A-3PTS in their first win vs. CAR.
Tonight's game concludes the club's 12th of 16 sets of back-to-backs games this season. The Devils are 6-4-2 in first games and are 5-6-0 in second games of back-to-backs.
The Devils are 9-7-1 against Metropolitan Division opponents and are 18-12-5 against the Eastern Conference in 2017-18. New Jersey is 30-20-8 (68PTS) while Carolina trails by just 5PTS with 63PTS (27-21-9).
Keith Kinkaid, who has a career-high 12 wins this season, stopped 27 of 29 shots to defeat Carolina on Thursday. He is 5-1-0 (1.63 GAA, .947sv%) in six career games vs. CAR. Eddie Lack spent two seasons (2015-17) with the Hurricanes and was 20-21-9 (2.75 GAA, .902 sv%) during his time with the club. Lack is 2-0-0 with one shutout (1.00 GAA, .968 sv%) in two career matches against his former club. He stopped a career-high 48 shots in last night's victory against TBL.
Taylor Hall is on a career-high, 10-game, points-streak, 6G-7A-13PTS (Jan. 30-Feb. 17). It is the longest such streak in franchise history and the longest active points-streak in the NHL.
Middletown, NJ native Trevor van Riemsdyk leads the Hurricanes with a +7 rating. Former Devil, Lee Stempniak (2015-16), is playing in his second season with CAR. As a Devil, Stempniak notched 16G-25A-41PTS in 61GP before being traded to Boston at the 2016 Trade Deadline for BOS 4th-round pick (Evan Cormier) in the 2016 NHL Draft and Boston's 2nd round pick (used to acquire Mirco Mueller from SJS) in the 2017 NHL Draft.
