On Monday night, Washington Capitals kept pounding away and waited patiently to capitalize (no pun intended) on any New Jersey Devils unforced errors and mistakes like a lion awaiting his prey on National Geographic documentary. The Devils were embarrassed and lost badly as they headed up to Detroit to play the Red Wings, who beat New Jersey on October 15th.
How would the Devils respond? Would they bounce back and show what they are capable of like during their three game win streak over the Anaheim Ducks, New York Islanders, and San Jose Sharks? Or would they come out and play uninspired hockey?
In the first period of last night’s game, Detroit came out swinging for the fences and took a 1-0 lead. For the most part, New Jersey withstood the flurry and began to dictate the flow of the game. Without Ondrej Palat in the lineup, they kept the pressure and relentless pursuit of the puck. By the end of the first period, Devils had a 2-1 lead thanks to Dawson Mercer and Jack Hughes.
The second period saw the Devils scoring on special teams. Jesper Bratt had a laser shot on the power play on a pass from Jack Hughes. A few minutes later after Jonas Siegenthaler’s penalty, Yegor Sharangovich scored a shorthanded goal to make it 4-1 in favor of the Devils.
Third period got interesting when Red Wing’s forward Dominik Kubalik scored to make the deficit 4-2. But, the Devils responded back later with Nico Hischier and Jesper Bratt goals to make it 6-2. The Devils had an answer each time the Red Wings tried to mount a comeback.
What a way to come back after a disastrous performance Monday night.
Jesper Bratt Getting It Done
How about Jesper Bratt? He has three goals and nine assists so far this season. Got to give Bratt credit here. Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald and the Bratt camp avoided arbitration and ultimately signed a 1-year deal at $5.45M. I know it is early but Bratt is putting up great numbers that will drive up his value in the free agent market. The Devils still retain control after this season for one more year. But, you have to figure with the salary cap going up and Tomas Tatar’s contract coming off the books, Bratt could command upwards of $9M to $10M a year and surpass Jack Hughes’ recent contract if he maintains this scoring pace.
Bill Spaulding’s Mammogram Goal Call
“We encourage all women to schedule a mammogram and we got a Devils goal” is my new favorite call pic.twitter.com/u2wMq79UgR
— Hockey Players With Animals (And Other Chaos) (@animalsofhockey) October 26, 2022
PODCAST - Devils Get Revenge On Red Wings, Win 6-2
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Sam Woo is co-host and executive producer of the Let's Go Devils Podcast which can be heard live every Sunday at 9pm ET and Wednesday at 8:30pm ET.
New Jersey Devils Blogger • 
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