Here are some observations from the game:
• How's this for a little whiplash? Late in the first period, the Devils and Golden Knights went on a bit of a ride, exchanging a flurry of goals. New Jersey went from leading Vegas 1-0, to trailing 2-1 and back to a tie game, 2-2, all within a 2:43 span. Vegas used all of five seconds on their first power play to tie the game at 1-1 with Mark Stone tipping the puck past Hellebuyck, then it was a Mitch Marner to Ivan Barbashev in the low slot to give the Golden Knights on a 2-1 lead on a tic-tac-toe play.
But the stretched contiues with Arseny Gritsyuk picking up a loose puck and using a poise of patience to snipe the puck past Adin Hill for a 2-2 game. It was a crutial goal that sent the Devils into the first intermission in a tie game, instead of trailing.
• Jack Hughes' 2nd period goal was a thing of beauty, and one of two extraordinary individual efforts we'd see on Friday night.
Right off the bench Hughes picked up the puck in the neutral zone before making his way to the the high slot, where he slips between Jack Eichel and Mark Stone, splitting the two Vegas players and sending his wrist shot into the far corner of the net.
• The second individual effort that even the Vegas crowd let out an audible 'Wow', was Arseny Gritsyuk's second goal of the game.
Gritsyuk picked up the puck in the Devils zone and skated the puck, uncontested, through the neutral zone, into the offensive zone. There, he makes a move around Vegas defender Shea Theodore to get a backhand shot off on Hill.
"Oh, you know, Jack Hughes show me how I can do this stuff before, and, uh, I try do this stuff and it's working," Gritsyuk joked after the game.
The 2-goal effort was the second 2-goal outing of Gritsyuk's career. With his first coming last season on Nov. 28 against Buffalo.
• Gritsyuk is hopfully about to be starting up a new point streak. He had his 6-game streak halted in Colorado, but picks rightback up here in Vegas.
• New Jersey's 16 shots in the 2nd period is the most shots against in the middle frame the Golden Knights have conceded this season.
• Don't let the jersey color confuse you, New Jersey wore their home red's in Vegas.
• The Golden Knights pulled Hill for an extra attacker with over four minutes to play, and trailing New Jersey 4-2. The Devils played it perfectly with Jack Hughes capitalizing on the empty-net, for his second goal of the game.
• According to NHL PR, the Devils are now 10-1-0 when both Hughes brothers score in a game.
• Why an afternoon game on a week day here in Vegas? Today is Nevada Day, which is an official state holiday to commemorate Nevada becoming the 36th state in 1864.
• Johnny Kovacevic returned to the Devils lineup, paired up with Declan Chisholm, in place of Brenden Dillon.
