The New Jersey Devils began their longest road trip of the season, heading out to the West Coast, facing the Anaheim Ducks first on New Year’s Eve. The game resulted in a 3-2 loss for New Jersey.
The first period commenced, and for the Ducks, Troy Terry gave them the 1-0 lead at 10:05, opening the game up for the Ducks at Honda Center in Anaheim that night. Ryan Strome and Frank Vatrano assisted his goal. Ryan Strome had a two-point night against the Devils, tallying one goal and an assist.
The second period went scoreless, although both teams took shots on the net. The Devils had six shots on goal, and the Ducks attempted 11. For the Devils, they went scoreless in the first and second periods; the Devils also took five penalties in those periods and a shorthanded goal could have given them a spark but it never happened.
In the third, Robby Fabbri scored the Duck’s second goal of the night on a 2-on-1 rush, giving them the 2-0 advantage over the Devils. That was until Jonas Siegenthaler scored on a shot from the point a minute and 34 seconds later, putting the Devils on the board. This was Siegenthaler’s first goal since Nov. 7. Not long after, Dougie Hamilton set up the perfect, well-deserved shot for Timo Meier, officially tying the game 2-2 while earning his 14th goal of the season. Ryan Strome scored the night’s final goal for the Ducks, pushing the game to 3-2. It was concluded that the Devils did not play at their highest and strongest level between the first and second periods but attempted to pick up their game in the third. Fighting to push the game into overtime, the Devils unfortunately ran out of time to make a successful play.
Devils Captain Nico Hischier had a total of six minutes’ worth of penalties, which, before this count, Hischier only had two minutes’ worth of penalty time so far this season. Kurtis MacDermid served his first penalty, which accounted for a two-minute minor for hooking and holding against Alex Killorn.
Jack and Luke Hughes combined for 11 shots on goal, but it was no match for Lukas Dostal that night, as he made 32 saves against the Devils. Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom had an impressive night taking on the Ducks, leading the team, Markstrom saved 23 shots. Some words from the Devils head coach, Sheldon Keefe, “Marky was great, he deserved two points here today and should be very upset with his teammates tonight.”
Head coach Sheldon Keefe was disappointed with the team based on their performance last night, “The chances we gave up were completely egregious. You have no chance to win in the NHL playing like that. It was disgraceful.” Sheldon Keefe is looking to get back this Wednesday against the Los Angeles Kings and secure a well-deserved win.
The New Jersey Devils will now head to Los Angeles to face the Kings this Wednesday, January 1, with a 6 p.m. EST puck drop (3 p.m. PST). This will be their second and last matchup of the 2024-2025 season.
