Hamilton returns for Devils in loss to Red Wings

NEWARK, N.J. -- Dylan Larkin and Jonatan Berggren each had a goal and an assist for the Detroit Red Wings in a 5-2 win against the New Jersey Devils at Prudential Center on Wednesday.

Simon Edvinsson and Lucas Raymond each had two assists, and Alex Lyon made 28 saves for Detroit (39-35-7), which has won five of its past seven.

"For us right now it's about building an identity, something to build off for next season,” Edvinsson said. “It's huge. The season didn't go the way we wanted and everyone knows it. That's been our thing, to keep building at the end and finish off strong."

Dougie Hamilton returned to the lineup for the Devils after the defenseman missed the previous 18 games because of a lower-body injury. He had four shots on goal and four blocked shots in 23:43 of ice time in his first game since March 4.

"It was great just to be back playing," Hamilton said. "To be able to get ready for playoffs. So I just want to keep it going for the next couple days and keep trying to get better and get ready."

Erik Haula had a goal and an assist, and Nico Daws made 22 saves for the Devils (42-33-7) in their regular-season finale.

New Jersey finishes as the No. 3 seed in the Metropolitan Division for the Stanley Cup Playoffs and will face the Carolina Hurricanes, the No. 2 seed, in the Eastern Conference First Round.

"It's a team that knows exactly who they are," New Jersey coach Sheldon Keefe said of the Hurricanes. "Not a lot of change over the years for them except, I think they've developed more skill within their lineup. They're a high-pressure team. They're going to put lots of stress on you and it's going to be on us to manage that."

The Red Wings appeared to take a 1-0 lead 7:40 into the first period when Vladimir Tarasenko scored on a snapshot from the left circle on the power play, but the Devils successfully challenged for goalie interference by J.T. Compher.

Berggren gave Detroit a 1-0 lead at 17:07 of the first period on a snap shot from low in the left face-off circle.

Compher scored off a rush down right wing for a 2-0 lead at 5:20 of the second period.

Larkin pushed it to 3-0 on a snap shot from the high slot at 2:55 of the third period for his 30th goal of the season.

"We're getting there ... it's starting to come," Detroit coach Todd McLellan said. "The teams we're playing are not as loaded as we'd like them to be. We'll take what we can get and find ways to win. We prepared like we always do. We asked them to play for each other, commit to these last six periods, now three. That wasn't too much to ask."

The Red Wings will conclude their regular season at the Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday.

"We're hockey players and we had a job to do, so it felt good to get a win tonight," Lyon said. "I felt comfortable, found a nice groove. It's always good to get the win for sure."

Haula scored a power-play goal on a tip-in from the slot to pull the Devils to within 3-1 at 11:32.

Dawson Mercer made it 3-2 on a snap shot from the slot at 14:21.

Alex DeBrincat scored his 38th goal of the season on a wrist shot from the high slot during a 4-on-4 at 17:09 to give Detroit a 4-2 lead. Marco Kasper scored an empty-net goal at 19:50 for the 5-2 final.

"You're trying to get out of these last couple and now we go for real," Devils defenseman Brenden Dillon said. "So, the game tonight, obviously we had some moving parts in and out of the lineup. I love that we came back to make it a one-goal game then the fourth one was kind of the killer. But we got to be ready to rock and roll in a couple days, dial things in and get going."

NOTES: Larkin become the sixth player in Red Wings history to have at least five 30-goal seasons, joining Gordie Howe (14), Steve Yzerman (11), Sergei Fedorov (9), Brendan Shanahan (7) and John Ogrodnick (5). ... New Jersey played without forwards Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Timo Meier, Stefan Noesen, and defensemen Luke Hughes, Brett Pesce and Johnathan Kovacevic as Keefe rested many of his players. They were also without forwards Paul Cotter (suspended), and Ondrej Palat (lower-body injury). ... Bratt's streak of 249 straight games that began on April 24, 2022, ended.