Devils Down Detroit | GAME STORY

NEWARK, NJ - The Devils snapped a three-game losing streak with the help of some home cooking. New Jersey topped Detroit, 4-3, at Prudential Center on Monday night.

Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, Cody Glass and Connor Brown all scored for the Devils. Jacob Markstrom made 33 stops but saved his best for the final 10 minutes of the game, withstanding heavy pressure and a maelstrom of chances while registering several clutch denials to fend off Detroit’s comeback attempt.

"(Markstrom) is the reason we get the two points," head coach Sheldon Keefe said. "He was outstanding. He saved us many times."

The Devils are now 8-0-1 at home this season.

Hischier, Meier and Brown each recorded a goal and assist for two-point nights.

Alex Debrincat, James van Riemsdyk and Dylan Larkin tallied for the Red Wings.

Here are some observations from the game:

• For the second straight game, the Devils opened the scoring. And for the second straight game, it was Meier who would provide that opening tally. Meier tipped a shot from the point by Noesen into the net through the legs of Detroit goalie Cam Talbot.

• Meier’s goal was the result of great teamwork and support. On the play, defenseman Simon Nemec pinched up on the play, being aggressive in trying to create offense. Noesen reloaded into Nemec’s vacated position and would receive the puck. He threw it toward the net for Meier to tip. That smart read by Noesen to fill that void led the goal.

• Hischier was off the floor, on the board. After leaving the game momentarily early in the first period (see bullet point below), Hischier exacted his revenge with his seventh goal of the season, and his fourth goal in the past four games. He took a pass from Jesper Bratt above the circles and ripped it glove side for the goal.

• Cody Glass returned to the lineup after missing the past four games with an upper-body injury. And just like his previous return from injury against Pittsburgh a few weeks back, he scored a goal. Glass was in front of the net when Luke Hughes’s shot went off his stick and into the net.

Brown: "He's a big-time glue (guy) for us. He's a big-time stabilizer for the third line and the bottom-6, the type of minutes he provides, the way he plays. It's huges having him back."

• Brown’s second period goal gave the Devils a 4-2 lead. And it was the result of not giving up on a play. The Red Wings’ Travis Hamonic had the puck below his goal line and seemed to have time to make a play. However, Dawson Mercer had other ideas. Mercer pressured hard on the forecheck and as Hamonic tried to rim the puck around, it hit Mercer’s stick and bounced behind the Red Wings net to the stick of Brown. He was able to coral and quickly tuck it inside the post for the goal before Talbot could recover.

Brown: "It was a nice little bounce for sure. I saw him hunting and I was trying to forecheck. It came right to my stick. Sometimes those are the nice ones to get."

Keefe: "It was Mercer who put a lot of pressure on the puck that forced that bounce to go our way. Brown was on the right spot where we want him to be in that situation and he pounces on it."

• This game had an ugly start. J.T. Compher hit Devils captain Nico Hischier shoulder-to-shoulder and sent him flying into the boards. Hischier’s cheek collided with the edge of the boards and he stayed on the ice for a while before getting up and slowly going to the bench. He went immediately down the tunnel, but was able to return.

Credit goes to Noesen for dropping the gloves against Compher on his next shift. Also credit to the linesmen, who could have stopped the fight after Noesen fell down but they let him get back on his feet and let the fight play out.

• The rough stuff continued all throughout the game and even following the end of regulation. There were several post-whistle scrums and at the final buzzer all the players on the ice, including Markstrom, got involved with some blows tossed around.

Jonas Siegenthaler: "We're all brothers here. We stand up for each other. Early in the game, they got a dirty hit on Nico. Noesen responded well. At the end, we didn't get pushed around. If someone gets pushed around we stand up for each. We're there for each other. That's waht we showed tonight."

Markstrom: "They had six guys and we had five guys. So, everybody grabbed somebody."

• The Devils are 11-0-0 when leading after two periods and 10-1-1 when scoring first.