Quality defense and goaltending are crucial for winning games, and that formula has fueled the New Jersey Devils’ early success this season. They notched their fifth victory with a 3-1 win over the Ottawa Senators.
It was a back and forth battle in the first period, with neither team managing to find the back of the net. Jacob Markstrom made several key saves, keeping the game scoreless.
The action picked up in the second period when Erik Haula opened the scoring redirecting a shot from the point by Johnathan Kovacevic to give the Devils a 1-0 lead. This marked Haula’s first goal of the season.
Just minutes later, Nathan Bastian extended the lead to 2-0 with a dazzling shorthanded wrist shot that beat Anton Forsberg, also securing his first goal of the season.
In the third period, Paul Cotter buried a rebound in front of the net, notching his fifth goal of the season to make it 3-0 Devils. Cotter is currently tied for the second-most goals in the league alongside Dylan Guenther of the Utah Hockey Club.
The Senators managed to spoil Markstrom’s bid for a shutout when Brady Tkachuk deflected a shot from Claude Giroux with just 1:05 remaining in the game.
Despite that, New Jersey held on to claim victory becoming the first team in the league to achieve five wins and ten points in the standings.
Markstrom delivered a fantastic performance, stopping 30-of-31 shots he faced, resulting in a +1.4 goals saved above expected, according to MoneyPuck.
New Jersey’s defense and goaltending has shown significant improvement this season, limiting opponents to one goal or fewer in four of their first seven games. Last season, they accomplished this only ten times.
Another key component to the team’s early success involves their ability to score first in games. New Jersey has netted the opening goal in four of their seven games so far, whereas it took them 19 games to record the opening goal four times last season.
The Devils aim to build on this victory as they return home to face the Washington Capitals on Saturday night at 7 p.m. ET.
