2023-12-02 02:45:00
Anthony Duclair and Joey MacDonald scored two goals each, Mikael Granlund had three points and the San Jose Sharks surprised the New Jersey Devils 6-3 on Friday to record their first victory in 11 games over the opposing rinks this season.
This is the first time the Sharks have scored more than one goal in an away match this season. They equaled their road goal tally since the start of the season, having only scored six goals in 10 games on opposing ice before this meeting.
The Devils outshot the Devils 48-18, but fell foul of Kaapo Kahkonen, who made 45 saves, including 22 of 24 shots in the third period as the Devils relentlessly attacked with six skaters for the last 3:57.
The Sharks managed to put just three shots on goal in the second period, but two of those shots beat Akira Schmid to give San Jose a 3-1 lead.
The Sharks, the worst team in the NHL standings, are enjoying their best streak of the season with three wins in four games. The Devils see their winning streak stop at three.
Freshly recalled following Dougie Hamilton’s injury, Simon Nemec took advantage of his first game in the NHL to collect his first two points, assists on goals from Dawson Mercer and Ondrej Palat.
First, his one-timer from the blue line deflected before hitting the glass behind the goal, bouncing to the top of the net, then being hit on the fly by Mercer, who then tied the game 1 -1 in the first period.
Nemec also had a hand in Palat’s goal in the third. Palat cut the Sharks’ lead to 4-3 on a nice pass from Jesper Bratt.
MacDonald opened the scoring for the Sharks at 2:10 of the first period. The defender came back early in the second to give San Jose a 2-1 lead.
This is a first double for MacDonald, who had never scored more than one goal in a season since the start of his NHL career. He now has three in nine games this season.
Duclair then doubled his team’s lead on a magnificent lift pass from Granlund midway through the second.
At the start of the third, Jack Hughes took advantage of a Sharks turnover at their offensive blue line to close the gap with a perfect shot in transition, a good move for his ninth goal of the season. The Devils star player scored in a third straight game. He had seven points during this streak.
Duclair immediately did it once more to give San Jose a two-goal lead with the help of a superb breakaway feint.
Accomplice of Duclair’s two goals, Granlund completed his first three-point night of the season by making it 5-3, 40 seconds following Palat’s goal.
William Eklund then completed the score in an empty net with 18 seconds on the clock.
Schmid was employed in net for the Devils for a second game in as many nights following facing a barrage of 47 shots Thursday once morest the Philadelphia Flyers. He gave up five times on just 17 shots.
Facing his former team, Timo Meier returned to action for the Devils following a seven-game absence due to a lower body injury. He shot five times on net and finished the game with a minus-2 rating.
The Devils were without Brendan Smith, who was serving the first half of his two-game suspension for slashing Travis Konecny.
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