Devils Sweep Alberta | GAME STORY

EDMONTON, AB - The New Jersey Devils have swept their way through Alberta, Canada.

After a victory in Calgary on Monday night, the Devils did the same to the Flames rivals, the Edmonton Oilers, with a 2-1 victory on Tueday night.

Arseny Gritsyuk hammered his stick on the ice in rapid-fire taps, making sure Cody Glass, at the halfwall, couldn’t miss him. Left all alone in space, Gritsyuk was primed to make something happen. Glass picked up the signal, zipped a perfect feed across, and Gritsyuk unloaded a quick snapshot before Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry had any chance to react.

“If I didn’t get it to him, he probably would have yelled at me,” Glass joked. “Glad I found him on the tape and you put him in any situation with the shot he has, he’s going to have a good chance at scoring.”

It was only the opening act of a big second period for the duo. Later in the frame, they struck again, this time with the roles reversed. After the Oilers had knotted the game at 1-1, Gritsyuk returned the favor, slipping the puck to Glass for the go-ahead goal and capping off a standout stretch for the pair.

In the third, it was all Edmonton, who were pushing for the equalizer, but on the Devils' side of the puck, it was all Jake Allen who held the fort, highlight reel save after highlight reel save to will New Jersey to the 2-1 win, their fourth win in their last five games. The Oilers, after having just 10 shots in their first 40 minutes, had 13 in the third and dominated possession.

“It feels good,” Glass said. “Especially on a back-to-back, going against the Oilers, it’s a tough task. I felt like we did a really good job, the first and second period and we knew the storm was going to be coming, you knew (Connor) McDavid was going to be out there for the majority of the period, so it was all about deflecting him to the outside and Jake (Allen) had his best period of the year.”

“You know Edmonton was going to have a surge," added head coach Sheldon Keefe. "I thought we managed that the first and second period as close to perfect as we could have, but you know they’re going to have a push, we were going to need to get some saves and Jake was outstanding.”

Allen finished the night making 22 saves on 23 shots.

Matt Savoie scored for the Oilers.

Here are some observations from the game:

• Johnny Kovacevic made his return to the lineup a known one, dropping the gloves in the first period against Vasily Podkolzin.

Podkolzin, who was assessed two minutes for instigating, five minutes for fighting, and a 10-minute misconduct, jumped at the chance to drop the gloves with Kovacevic after the Devils defenseman laid a clean hit on superstar Connor McDavid, who was skating down the flank.

Kovacevic, always one to defend himself and a teammate, shook off the gloves quickly and engaged with Podolzin.

Kovacevic was assesed five-minutes for fighting.

• The Devils limited the Oilers to just 10 shots after 40 minutes of play, before the Oilers took over on the shot clock as they were pushing for the equalizer in the third. It was all Oilers - and Jake Allen - in the third, with Edmonton peppering Allen and the Devils with 13 shots, and limited New Jersey to just three, the first of which came with less than seven minutes to play in the period.

"We just had to find a way to get through it,” Allen said. “They’re going to get their looks, that’s the reality of it. They’re a good team. They have really good players over there, we’ve got to understand they’re going to have momentum, it’s just how do we get through that momentum and I thought the guys did a great job.”

• It’s no easy task going up against the Oilers power play; they own the league-best conversion rate at 33.1 percent, four percent higher than the league's second-best power play (Dallas Stars, 29.2 percent).

In the second period, the Devils killed off both second-period Oilers power plays while two of their top penalty killers were called for infractions. First, Brenden Dillon was called for a delay of the game (puck over the glass), followed by a tripping call on Jonas Siegenthaler. The Devils gave up just two shots to the Oilers on their man-advantage, Jake Allen saving them both.

• Dougie Hamilton picked up yet another assist, with the secondary helper on Gritsyuk’s opening goal. He has points in six straight games, collecting seven assists.

• Connor Brown made his return to Rogers Place in Edmonton after spending the past two seasons with the Oilers before joining New Jersey this offseason. Brown was greeted to big cheers and applause when he was recognized in the first commercial break. Brown picked up an assist in the game and finished the season series against his former team with a goal and an assist.

• Jack Hughes has hit the 400-game mark in his career, suiting up for the milestone night against the Oilers.

• The Devils played without defenseman Luke Hughes, who was injured in Monday night's game against the Calgary Flames. Head coach Sheldon Keefe said on Tuesday morning that the club will need some time to make a full evaluation before providing an update on Hughes's injury.