Early Deficit Dooms Devils in San Jose | GAME STORY

SAN JOSE, CA - The San Jose Sharks jumped out to an early lead, scoring just 42 seconds into the game and adding two more goals by the 15:47 mark to make it 3-0 against New Jersey on Thursday night. It was the second straight game the Devils found themselves behind the eight ball early, forced to chase the game after another slow start.

The early San Jose lead would prove insurmountable as New Jersey lost two straight games for the first time this season after a 5-2 defeat in San Jose.

"It’s really disappointing," Jonas Siegenthaler, who saw the puck jump over his stick on his opening shift, leading to the Sharks opening goal. "I think we just weren’t ready at the start when the puck dropped. The first goal was a bad bounce, but it really doesn’t matter; the second and third shouldn’t allow those chances. At the end, we need to be more ready at the start and work as a five-man unit.”

Dawson Mercer got the Devils on the board late in the first period with a power-play goal, but San Jose answered with a pair of goals in the second to further deepen the hole for the Devils. Mercer added his second goal of the game, another power play marker, in the third period.

The Devils held the Sharks without a shot in the third period.

“I don’t think we gave up a shot in the third period, which, quite frankly, because of how poor we’d been defending, that was more of a focus for me than anything," head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "We’ve got to embrace the foundation here that we protect our goaltenders, we’re hard to play against, we’re good defensively and then our offense is going to prosper from there.”

William Eklund, Philipp Kurashev, Alexander Wennberg, Will Smith and Tyler Toffoli all scored for San Jose.

Here are some observations from the game:

• Dawson Mercer is off to the hottest goal-scoring start of his career through 11 games. His fifth goal of the season came on the power play, thanks to a sharp feed from Jack Hughes to the slot. Dropping to one knee, Mercer redirected the pass perfectly past Sharks goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic. The goal cut the Sharks' deficit to 3-1 and was also assisted by Dougie Hamilton. His second goal of the game, also on the power play, brings his season total to six through 11 games.

"When you look at it, I want to make sure I give him an option, another sight for him to see," Mercer said, describing the thought process on Hughes' pass. "He can make a ton of different plays out there and just making sure that I show my stick, show that it’s present and if he chooses to give it, it’s great and if he makes another play, that’s going to be great also.”

It’s the first time since his rookie season that he has been out to a quick goal-scoring start. In his debut season, Mercer took 13 games to record five goals. In 2022-23, he had four goals in the opening 10 games of the season between Oct 13, 2022, and Nov. 1, 2022. It would take him until his 19th game of the season to record his fifth goal of the year.

• Mercer's two power play goals were just the second time in his career that he's scored two man-advantage goals in a game. The last time he had two power play goals was March 26, 2025, at Chicago.

• After what was an uncharacteristic rough night for the penalty kill against the Avalanche in Colorado, the Devils' penalty killers went 2-for-2 against the Sharks. Similarly, the Devils' power play bounced back with two goals on their three man-advantage opportunities.

• Jack Hughes is on a four-game point streak, having accumulated six points (3 goals, 3 assists).

• New Jersey has lost six straight games in the state of California, their last win coming in a 7-2 victory on February 27, 2024.

• Sheldon Keefe made tweaks to his defensive pairings going into the game, with two familiar pairings reunited. Jonas Siegenthaler and Dougie Hamilton paired together, as did Brenden Dillon and Simon Nemec. Luke Hughes and Seamus Casey made up the third pair.