Granlund's 3 points help Sharks defeat Devils for 1st road win

NEWARK, N.J. -- Mikael Granlund had a goal and two assists for the San Jose Sharks in their first road win of the season, 6-3 against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Friday.

"I'm happy for our guys," San Jose coach David Quinn said. "It's been a tough year, especially on the road. To find a way to win is a tribute to our team. When you see guys getting rewarded for hard work, it makes you feel good."

Anthony Duclair and Jacob MacDonald each had two goals, and Kaapo Kahkonen made 44 saves for the Sharks (6-16-2), who had been 0-10-0 on the road, including a 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins on Thursday.

San Jose entered the game having been outscored 42-6 on the road, not scoring more than one goal in any of the games.

"It was a great all-around game for us," Duclair said. "It's a big road trip for us; we obviously wanted to get our first road win. All four lines were rolling and it gave us confidence."

The Sharks outscored Devils 3-2 in the third period despite being outshot 23-7.

"We were opportunistic tonight," Quinn said.

Defenseman Simon Nemec , selected No. 2 in the 2022 NHL Draft, had two assists in his NHL debut, and Akira Schmid made 12 saves for the Devils (11-10-1), who had won their previous three games. Schmid made 44 saves in a 4-3 overtime win at the Philadelphia Flyers on Thursday.

"We went back to Akira as just a vote of confidence for winning (at Philadelphia)," New Jersey coach Lindy Ruff said. "But you've got to get timely saves."

MacDonald gave San Jose a 1-0 lead at 2:10 of the first period, taking a cross-crease pass from Mario Ferraro at the right post and scoring on a wrist shot.

"We started out hot," MacDonald said. "A quick goal and that builds confidence from off the start. And Kahkonen was incredible all night."

Dawson Mercer's power-play goal tied it 1-1 at 13:21. He batted in a waist-high puck after Nemec’s shot from the point deflected up off the crossbar, hit the end boards and bounced off the top of the net before dropping in front.

MacDonald put the Sharks back in front 2-1 at 2:51 of the second period on a redirection from the high slot.

"It's puck management," Ruff said. "[Our defensive breakdowns] have nothing to do with [our] system. It's a decision where you want to put the puck. We knew we were going to have the puck the majority of the time. We knew we would have zone time. You can do all this good work, but if you're going to disrespect the game, which we did ... it's disappointing."

Duclair pushed it to 3-1 at 9:47 on a one-timer from the right face-off circle.

Jack Hughes made it 3-2 on a snap shot from the right circle at 2:56 of the third period.

Duclair gave the Sharks a 4-2 lead at 5:07 off a turnover, going backhand to forehand on a breakaway.

"If you look at our defensive game, it's not where we want it to be," said Devils forward Timo Meier, who returned to the lineup after missing seven games with a lower-body injury. "We've got to tighten that up as a group and individually we've got to look in the mirror and clean some stuff up. We know we have a lot of talent on this team, but talent (alone) is not going to get you far."

Ondrej Palat pulled the Devils within 4-3 on a snap shot from the slot at 12:58.

Granlund scored on a rebound in front for a 5-3 lead at 13:38.

"Our game overall has been getting better," Granlund said. "We know if we are good defensively, everything else will come for us and we got our first road win."

William Eklund scored an empty-net goal with 18 seconds left for the 6-3 final.

NOTES: Sharks forward Luke Kunin was a late scratch with an upper-body injury. ... MacDonald and Duclair became the first San Jose players to score multiple goals in the same game since Meier (two goals) and Erik Karlsson (three goals, one assist) against the Anaheim Ducks on Nov. 1, 2022. ... Meier had five shots on goal in 21:30 of ice time in his first game against the Sharks since they traded him to the Devils on Feb. 26, 2023. ... The Devils announced before the game that defenseman Dougie Hamilton is out indefinitely after successful surgery for a torn left pectoral muscle Friday. They were also without defenseman Brendan Smith, who was suspended two games Friday for slashing Flyers forward Travis Konecny on Thursday. ... Nemec became the seventh active defenseman (minimum one game played this season) with multiple points in his NHL debut (regular season or playoffs). ... Hughes has 30 points (nine goals, 21 assists) in 17 games, requiring the third-fewest games in a season to reach the mark among United States-born players (Pat LaFontaine, 11 games in 1992-93; Kevin Stevens, 12 in 1992-93).