Devils Fall to Vegas in Markstrom's Return to Lineup | GAME STORY

LAS VEGAS, NV - It was fitting that in Jacob Markstrom's return to the New Jersey Devils lineup, we would have a goaltending duel on our hands.

In Vegas, Markstrom went save-for-save against Golden Knight's Adin Hill through the opening 40 minutes. Both goaltenders were a perfect 16-for-16 until the game's first power play changed the momentum.

With Jack Hughes in the box for an interference call, Mark Stone broke through on the power play, tipping a Noah Hanafin blueline shot past Markstrom. The goal gave the Golden Knights a 1-0 lead at 1:27 of the 3rd period. Awarded a second power play, the result of the Devils being called for a bench minor for too many men on the ice, Vegas struck again, this time Hanafin's shot from the blueline trickling through Markstrom's pads. Vegas took the 2-0 lead with 10:49 to play.

Things began to unravel for the Devils in the final two minutes when Jack Hughes went hard into the boards, tripped up by 4 Nations teammate Jack Eichel, and left the game clutching his right arm and head coach Sheldon Keefe was ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct after Keefe expressed his displeasure with the referees.

“Real hard to see him go down,” Keefe said post-game. “No update. He’s going to have to be evaluated, obviously it didn’t look good and we’re going to have to take our time to know the full extent of it. Tough to see it, espeially it’s a similar play he got called on earlier in the period. And I get kicked off the bench for telling the referee it was 10-times worse than the one that was previously called on Jack without swearing. I communicated it. Just kind of sumarized how that third period went.”

The Devils fall to the Golden Knights 2-0 after the penalty kill went 1-for-3 against Vegas.

"Obviously disappoint the penalty kill just couldn't get it done for us," Keefe said post-game.

Markstrom ended the game with 22 saves on 24 shots, while Hill turned aside all 25 shots from New Jersey.

Here are some observations from the game:

• Jacob Markstrom picked up right where he left off since his Jan. 22nd MCL injury. Markstrom has been working diligently to return to the lineup. The 35-year-old netminder missed 11 games over the span of six weeks of recovery.

"Felt good to be out there playing, it’s been a few weeks here," Markstrom said post-game. "But unfortunately we couldn’t get away with two points.

"I feel conditioning and strength-wise I feel stronger now from working out in the gym for five and a half weeks," he added. "Playing the game, I felt alright but you want the goals back. That’s the name of the game.

Regardless of Sunday's result, having Markstrom back in the lineup will provide a huge boost to this team in the waning games of the regular season.

“He’s such a competitor. He’s a leader in the room,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said prior to the game. “The way he plays goal, he competes. He gives everything he has in there. We’re going to have to do a good job to protect him and give him an opportunity to get back up to speed.

“He’s a competitor in the net. He gives absolute effort every time out. Players and the team can feed off of that.”

• For just the third time this season the Devils entered the third period of a game with a 0-0 scoreline. The other two instances were Nov. 21 at Calgary (3-0, L) and Jan. 14 at home against Florida (2-1, SOL)

• Luke Hughes continues to show new dimensions to his overall game and has been carrying a heavy load since Jonas Siegenthaler went down with injury. On Saturday, head coach Sheldon Keefe spoke about Hughes being put in new positions and handling them determinedly. Fresh off of playing 22:42 against the Utah Hockey Club, Hughes shot back into the lineup and played nearly half of the opening period against the Golden Knights. Hughes logged 9:16 during the first to lead both teams. Hughes hit 18:04 after 40 minutes and finished the game with 27:56 time on ice.

• Paul Cotter played his 200th career game. Serendipitously, his milestone game came against the team that drafted 115th overall in the 2018 NHL Draft. He played parts of three seasons with the Golden Knights, suiting up for 138 games, registering 22 goals and 23 assists. He won the Stanley Cup with Vegas in 2023.

The Golden Knights had a 'Welcome Back' video for Cotter that was greeted with big applause and a standing ovation while Cotter waved and saluted the crowd.