The New Jersey Devils beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 on Thursday at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, as Arseny Gritsyuk scored for the fourth straight game and Jack Hughes finished with a goal and an assist. The win pushed New Jersey to 6-4-0 and extended Anaheim’s losing streak to five games, dropping the Ducks to 4-6-0.
New Jersey built a 2-0 lead in the first period and put the game away with two third-period goals, including an empty-netter from Hughes with 6.1 seconds left. Nico Daws stopped 16 of 17 shots for the Devils, while Tim Washe scored the lone goal for Anaheim, whose top performer was limited to a single point on the night.
Key Moments: How New Jersey Pulled Away
Gritsyuk opened the scoring at 4:38 of the first period on a tip-in off Bratt’s centering pass. Bratt has been setting the table for New Jersey’s top line all month, and he picked up his second assist of the night late in the first period when Nico Hischier tapped in the rebound of Bratt’s shot from the right dot with 41 seconds left on a power play. That made it 2-0 after one.
The second period went scoreless, though Daws denied Beckett Sennecke on an uncontested wrist shot down the slot at 9:43. Anaheim finally broke through in the third when Washe deflected a Jackson LaCombe slap shot from the left point past Daws at 8:20, cutting the deficit to 1-2.
New Jersey answered quickly. Anthony Mantha scored on a rebound off a Brett Pesce shot from outside the right circle with 6:33 remaining, catching Ville Husso after the Ducks goalie thought he had covered the puck. Hughes closed it out with an empty-net backhand with 6.1 seconds on the clock, sealing the 4-1 final.
Top Performers From Both Sides
Jack Hughes had a goal and an assist. Jesper Bratt had two assists. Nico Daws made 16 saves, including eight in the second period. Arseny Gritsyuk scored his fifth goal of the season.
For Anaheim, Washe’s deflection goal accounted for the team’s only point of the night, while Sam Colangelo picked up an assist on the play. Husso made 25 saves on 28 shots in the loss. New Jersey recorded 29 shots to Anaheim’s 17 and converted one of two power-play chances. Anaheim went 0-for-1 on the power play.
What It Means
New Jersey won its second straight to improve to 6-4-0 and is 4-1-0 over its last five games. Gritsyuk, who signed a three-year, $9.75 million extension ($3.25 million annual average value) on July 3, is on a four-game goal streak with five goals this season.
The result also gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead in the season series between the two clubs.
What’s Next
The Devils host the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday at Prudential Center. Anaheim concludes its four-game road trip on Saturday against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Full box score and game details are available from ESPN and NHL.com.
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