Brian Boyle got the ball rolling for New Jersey in the first period and both Sami Vatanen and Miles Wood had a two-point afternoon in the victory.
Here are 10 takeaways from the game:
1. Mackenzie Blackwood once again was at the helm, protecting the New Jersey Devils net. In his sixth game played, with two wins and a shutout already in his back-pocket, Blackwood extended his shutout streak to two straight games making 25 saves on Monday afternoon for a third career victory and a second career shutout.
Blackwood is the first ever New Jersey rookie goaltender to post back-to-back shutouts.
Prior to the game, Blackwood was named the NHL's third Star of the Week after he earned his first two NHL wins and posted a first career shutout. At 22 years, 20 days, Blackwood became the third-youngest goalie in franchise history to post a shutout. (Credit: NHL PR)
2. With his 10th goal of the season, Brian Boyle opened the score against Vancouver on Monday afternoon. Boyle capitalized on a rebound off a Brett Seney shot on Canucks Anders Nilsson at the 12:03 mark of the first period. Boyle cashed in the rebound to give New Jersey a 1-0 lead on New Jersey's fifth shot of the game.
Boyle is on pace to surpass his numbers from last season. In 33 games played this year, Boyle has 10 goals and five assists for 15 points, while in 2017-18 Boyle played in 69 games amassing 13 goals and 10 assists for 23 points.
3. Miles Wood did what all coaches hope for, taking advantage of an opportunity. With both Taylor Hall and Marcus Johansson not playing due to injury, Wood found himself slotted in on the second wave of the New Jersey power play.
At the 18:12 mark of the first period, Wood was the beneficiary of a heads-up pass from Sami Vatanen, where upon reception, Wood fired a wrist-shot past Canucks goaltender Anders Nilsson. The goal marked Wood's first power play goal of the season, and a first since December 18, 2017. Vatanen and Jesper Bratt were credited with the assists.
4. Sami Vatanen fired a laser of a shot past Nilsson on the power play in the opening minutes of the third period to extend New Jersey's lead to 3-0 at 1:31 into the final period. With the help of Wood and Damon Severson, the second power play unit struck again and gave both Vatanen and Wood two-point afternoons.
5. Pavel Zacha added to the Devils lead moments after Vatanen. Zacha went skating up the ice with line mate Stefan Noesen carrying the puck past the blue line, with Noesen just barely ahead of Zacha, Noesen made a nifty drop pass that Zacha one-timed past Nilsson for the 4-0 lead.
Tweet from @NJDevils: Zacha with the 🚀🚀! #VANvsNJD pic.twitter.com/2vktRioVCE
Noesen and Steven Santini were credited with the assists. The assist for Santini was his first of the season (seven games played).
6. Devils had killed 24 of 25 penalties entering the game against Vancouver on Monday afternoon. They managed to escape unscathed during three penalty kill off another four-for-four to add to their impressive numbers on Monday afternoon. The Devils power play also went two-for-three to add to special teams success.
7. The Devils may not have peppered the Canucks with shots on Monday afternoon, but they certainly made the few shots they took count. Halfway through the game, New Jersey trailed in shots 18-9, however carried a 2-0 lead on Vancouver, a lead they would not relinquish. In the third period, the Devils extended their lead to 4-0 in the opening 3:37 with two goals on four shots.
8. New Jersey held the league's top rookie, Vancouver's Elias Pettersson off the scoreboard on Monday afternoon. The rookie, who was selected just four spots after Devils Nico Hischier in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, leads all rookies in goals (19), assists (20) and points (39).
9. New Jersey have now won three straight games and are 4-1-0 in their last five games.
10. New Jersey will waste no time getting into the swing of things to begin 2019. The Devils will travel to Dallas on Tuesday afternoon to begin a four-game road trip with stops against the Stars, in Arizona, Vegas and Buffalo.
