GAME RECAP: Devils 5, Oilers 2

NEWARK, NJ - The devil is in the details for New Jersey, who tied a franchise record on Monday night with their 13th consecutive victory.
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Leon Draisaitl found the back of the net for the Edmonton Oilers, but it wasn't enough to stop the streak in a 5-2 defeat to the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center in the opening game of a three-game road trip through New York.
After trading power-play goals in the first period, New Jersey took advantage of some mistakes in the middle frame from the Oilers to jump out to a 3-1 lead that they wouldn't relinquish despite Nugent-Hopkins' ninth goal of the season pulling Edmonton back to within a goal in the final frame.
"When you play a team that's on the roll that they're on, they make you pay for those individual errors," Head Coach Jay Woodcroft said, "We were made to pay tonight on some of our mistakes."
The Oilers continue their trip through the tri-state area Wednesday night on Long Island when they face the New York Islanders.

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FIRST BLOOD

Things have been going well for the Devils as of late, and they didn't have to wait long to open the scoring early in the first period.
Forward Jack Hughes stopped once he entered the Oilers zone and passed off to the half-wall for Nico Hischier, who then quickly delivered a feed to Jesper Bratt to drop to one knee and one-time his eighth goal of the season into the left side of the net past Skinner just 2:25 past opening puck drop.
The Devils have scored a power-play goal in eight of their last nine games, and in game where they've scored the opening goal this season, they're a perfect 6-0-0.

POWERING BACK UP

A little luck was involved in Edmonton's equalizer on the power play almost half a period later, but it wouldn't have gone in without the work of Jesse Puljujarvi in front.
Puljujarvi was a force in front of the net, winning a battle in front and causing Jonas Siegenthaler to fall to the ice, where he left his stick in the right spot to have Leon Draisaitl's pass meant for Puljujarvi from the left circle go off the Devils' defenders stick and in.

SECOND PERIOD STRUGGLE

It was a tough period for the Oilers goaltenders in the second -- even the one on the bench playing the role of backup on Monday night.
Skinner had the puck on his stick just over five minutes into the middle frame with a tracking Nico Hischier following the trajectory of the Oilers netminder's clearance. But instead of clearing the puck, Skinner unfortunately fanned on it and turned it over to the Swiss forward, who had his shot hit the post before Dawson Mercer put the rebound into the open net to give the Devils back the advantage.
"The puck was kind of bobbly," he said. "I tried to make a play to the corner, and then I just kind of fanned on it. I'd have to take a closer look at exactly what happened if it went under my stick or if that was just me. Obviously it's a tough one to let in because that gives them the lead 2-1 If that didn't happen, who knows?"

Three-and-a-half minutes later, a good Devils zone entry led to an open look from the top of the circles for Damon Severson to fire past Skinner, who looked to have caught an edge on the way across the crease on the 3-1 goal that was assisted by Bratt and Hughes.
"I tried to grab an edge and just lost it," Skinner added. "I fell and I just couldn't reach for it. That one stinks just because it gives them a 3-1 lead, but it's alright. You earn from it and move on."
To make matters worse before the intermission, a Dylan Holloway attempted dump-in near the Oilers bench unluckily struck the stationary Jack Campbell, who was positioned right by the player tunnel and had the puck hit him in the face before he exited to the dressing room.
"I went and saw him after the second period and he was laughing and smiling, so that's kind of guy he is," Skinner said. "But he had a pretty bloody nose, and obviously it sucks to see that happen -- especially to him. I think he's fine. He grinds."

PULLING ONE BACK

Some excellent net-front work from Puljujarvi once again proved to make a big impact.
Cody Ceci let go of a point shot that hit the lef of Puljujarvi in front and kicked left to Nugent-Hopkins, who had the whole net to flick home his ninth of the season and pull the deficit back to one with 15 minutes left to get a result. The Finnish forward's play on two goals tonight awarded him the opportunity to have an impact back on the top line with Zach Hyman and Connor McDavid in the third period after being a regular on that line for a large part of the regular season.

TATAR SHOWS SKILL

When you're on a win streak like the Devils, it takes some luck, but also, a lot of sharp plays.
Tomas Tatar did just that, using his glove to control a chest-high rebound before it dropped to waist level and was batted in by the Devils forward two minutes plus change after Nugent-Hopkins got Edmonton back in it.
"That's probably my fault," Tyson Barrie said. "I think I should box him out after he shoots it. I think I heard it hit Skins' blocker, so I'm kind of looking around to see where it goes, but give him credit. He grabs it and hits it out of the air and into the net."

Soon after, Yegor Sharangovich put the game on ice with a top-shelf snipe at the 5:25 mark of the third period to all but clinching the Devils their 13th straight win to tie a franchise record.
"We had a chance to tie it and make it 3-3, but their goalie made a really good save," Woodcroft said. "Then we had an individual mistake on a rush coverage and it ended up in the back of our net, so that's the way it went tonight. Our fellas worked, but in the end, self-inflicted individual mistakes cost us."

PARTING WORDS

Woodcroft on finding rhythm despite trading wins and losses this season:
"We've been faced with stiff challenges in the teams that we're playing, but in order to build consistency in your game, you want to see certain things in your team every night. I would be worried if I saw a lack of effort or you didn't have it on a certain evening. I thought we worked tonight, but in the end, (we're) learning to clean up some of those individual areas,"
"You play a team that's at the level they're at right now, you can't make those errors. You want to make sure that the other team beats you, not you beating yourself. Tonight, I thought we made too many self-inflicted errors."

Skinner on the result and losing both matchups with the Devils:
"It was obviously a tough game, a tough loss. They're obviously a great team. They're obviously hot right now as well. They've got some great players that make some great plays, and that was just tough to lose -- especially two in a row to these guys. But all we can do is learn from our mistakes and move on."
"They're just a skilled group. I think off turnovers, that's where their game is. I think they're fast. They make a lot of good east-to-west plays. I think the D are always jumping in the rush. They're a good team. They have their record for a reason and yeah, I think they're just a really good group over there with one goal."

Hyman on the Devils closing the game unlike Edmonton was able to in their last meeting:
"We weren't able to capitalize. They got those two in the second to make it 3-1, but we were in a similar situation to what they were when there in our building and I thought we had a good push back. Then, we weren't able to close it out and we give up one late. A tough one. They're a good team and we've got to better."