THE SCOOP
The Devils return to action Thursday night against the St. Louis Blues, looking to continue a strong stretch that has seen them win six of their last seven games.
New Jersey improved to 10-5-0 with a 4-3 shootout victory over Edmonton Tuesday night at Prudential Center. The Devils held a 3-1 lead in the second period before the Oilers rallied to force overtime, but New Jersey prevailed in the shootout to hand Edmonton its first road loss of the season.
Jack Hughes led the way with two goals and an assist, while Connor Brown scored his first goal of the season and added a helper. Jesper Bratt and Arseny Gritsyuk scored in the shootout, with Gritsyuk converting the deciding attempt.
The game also marked Connor Hellebuyck's first home appearance as a Devil following his acquisition from Winnipeg on Oct. 23. Hellebuyck made 18 saves, including a key third-period stop on Connor McDavid, and turned aside all three Edmonton shooters in the shootout. He is now 3-0-0 since joining New Jersey.
After opening the season 2-3-0, the Devils have gone 8-2-0 in their last 10 games, including victories over Colorado, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Dallas, Vegas and Edmonton.
Jack Hughes has been at the center of New Jersey's recent success. The 25-year-old leads the Devils with 19 points (8g-11a) through 15 games, while Arseny Gritsyuk has emerged as one of the team's top goal scorers with eight goals of his own.
New Jersey has also seen improved production from its power play. After making adjustments to the top unit before Tuesday's game, the Devils converted twice with the man advantage against Edmonton. Connor Brown was involved in both goals, scoring once and setting up Hughes' second of the night.
St. Louis arrives in Newark with a 7-7-1 record after falling 3-1 to the Rangers Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden.
The Blues generated 33 shots against New York but were held scoreless until Pius Suter scored with 52 seconds remaining in regulation. Rangers goaltender Dylan Garand made 32 saves, while Joel Hofer stopped 28 shots for St. Louis.
St. Louis went 0-for-6 on the power play in the loss, which ended a two-game winning streak.
Prior to the Rangers game, the Blues had rallied for a 5-4 victory over Detroit on Saturday. Trailing 4-2 in the third period, St. Louis scored three unanswered goals, with Justin Barron and Aleksanteri Kaskimaki scoring just 18 seconds apart to complete the comeback.
The Blues are led offensively by Dylan Holloway, who has 12 points (3g-9a) through 15 games. Jimmy Snuggerud leads the team with eight goals, while offseason addition Mason McTavish has six goals and 10 points.
St. Louis is playing the third game of a four-game road trip that concludes Saturday in Nashville.
The Devils swept the two-game season series against the Blues in 2025-26, winning 3-2 in overtime at Prudential Center in November and 3-1 in St. Louis in February.
Thursday is the first of two meetings between the teams this season.
