Road Trip Ends on High Note | GAME STORY

ST. LOUIS, MO - A two-goal second period was all New Jersey needed Saturday evening in St. Louis.

Timo Meier opened the scoring with his 16th goal of the season, and Dougie Hamilton followed with a power-play strike with just 14 seconds remaining in the second, to lead New Jersey past the Blues, 3-1.

The two goals marked the first time in six games that the Devils scored multiple goals.

Jacob Markstrom wasn’t tested often against the Blues, but manned the fort as needed, with the Devils controlling the majority of the possession. Their dominance was especially evident in the second period, when New Jersey more than doubled St. Louis in shots, 17-6, and capitalized with a 2-0 edge on the scoreboard.

"Good first period and then the second period we kept ramping it up,” Meier said. “And then, found a way to find two points, which are really important and now we’ve got to find a way to build on this win and take this feeling home and continue.”

Nico Hischier closed out the Devils scoring with the empty net goal, for his 20th goal of the season. 

"It feels good to get rewarded,” Hischier said. “I feel like those (were) tough losses, we didn’t get outplayed or anything, lots of chances and didn’t score, but today we brought a very detailed effort and scored some goals.”

Pavel Buchnevich scored with less than two minutes to play to end Jacob Markstrom's shutout bid.

It's now back home for the Devils for the start of their longest homestand of the season, playing seven straight at Prudential Center. 

“I think no better timing for us to have a little home stretch now, and get going offensively," Hischier added. "If we keep our defense like that, we’re going to win more games than we lose.”

Here are some observations from the game:

• After over a month on Injured Reserve, Luke Hughes returned to the Devils lineup, having rehabbed back from his shoulder injury. Hughes has been out of the lineup since he was injured in a game against the Calgary Flames on Jan. 19. Hughes returned to the ice with his regular defensive partner, Brett Pesce. 

"I thought he was good,” Keefe said of Hughes’s return. “A couple of times he got stuck out there and you could see the conditioning getting the better of him a little bit, but that’s all part of it, coming back. So, good for him, most importantly getting through the game healthy and the more he does that, he’ll just gain more and more confidence in his body and conditioning. But you could see at different times his ability to just take two, three strides and jump in and give us a different look offensively, I think that will pay off for us.”

• Timo Meier's goal was his 30th point of the season. 

• New Jersey made one small tweak to it's powerplay units, swapping Jesper Bratt for Arseny Gritsyuk on the first and second unit. Gritsyuk skated out with the first unit that included Dougie Hamilton, Nico Hischier, Jack Hughes and Connor Brown. 

• Gritsyuk and Bratt also swapped 5-on-5 linemates, with Gritsyuk skating alongside Jack Hughes and Connor Brown, while Bratt teamed up with Cody Glass and Lenni Hämeenaho.

“Really just trying to change that look a little bit,” Keefe said of the changes. “Bratter has been squeezing it since coming back from the break, so giving him a different look, different feel where he can really take charge or a line. And then see what Grits can bring, as a shooter, playmaker, he can still complement Jack (Hughes) obviously. I just wanted to try something a little different and liked how it looked today."

• Jack Hughes took his first penalty of the season when he sent the puck over the glass and was called for delay of game in the third period. Hughes was playing in his 39th game of the season. 

• Johnny Kovacevic did not play. Sheldon Keefe said that regarding who would or could come out of the lineup with Luke entering the fold would require a game-time decision, as some players were dealing with an illness. 

• Cody Glass played his 300th NHL game. Glass has been with the Devils for just under one year, arriving to the club at last year’s trade deadline. Glass has played 62 games with New Jersey, scoring 15 goals and 11 assists.