The extra time between the New Jersey Devils and the Chicago Blackhawks was 57 seconds old before the puck was in goal – behind Chicago goalkeeper Kevin Lankinen. Jack Hughes, first choice in 2019, had all the time in the world to pretend to be a Finn and he did. Nice goal – his second for the match – and full points pot for the Devils. Janne Kuokkanen received an assist for Hughes’ first full hit.
The home team New Jersey Devils led more or less the entire game, except for the times when the Chicago Blackhawks managed to equalize the numbers.
The Devils’ new full-back Dougie Hamilton put the team in the lead after just 17 seconds of play and that lead held New Jersey for just over 20 minutes. The second period also did not have time to get very old, 51 seconds, when Alex DeBrincat equalized the game in numerical superiority. Nice preparation there by the scoring machine Patrick Kane and the new acquisition from Tampa Bay Lightning, Tyler Johnson.
At the end of the second period, the 20-year-old talent Jack Hughes again put the Devils in the lead, on the pass of, among others, Janne Kuokkanen.
In the third period, Andreas Johansson increased Devil’s lead to 3-1 before Chicago reduced and leveled at the end of the match. Kirby Dach was responsible for the reduction to 2-3 in powerplay and Dominik Kubalik for the equalizer 26 seconds before the final signal. Both goals were scored with Lankinen in the box and an extra outfielder on the ice.
Talent and patience
After 60 minutes, it was 3-3, after which an extension followed. It managed to be 57 seconds old when the man of the match Jack Hughes finished by playing both Kane and Erik Gustafsson and, in the end also, Kevin Lankinen.
– I had several options in my head and then had the patience to fake the goalkeeper and shoot the puck in an empty cage, says Hughes according to nhl.com.
The New Jersey Devils selected Jack Hughes as number one in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, just ahead of runner-up Kaapo Kakko who was picked by the New York Rangers.
Lankinen saved 25 shots and conceded four. The save percentage was thus a mediocre 86.2. The Devils’ goalkeeper colleague, Jonathan Bernier, saved shots 24/27 with a percentage of 88.9 percent.
Janne Kuokkanen got playing time 14:14 minutes and was noted for an assist and got the plus-minus statistics +1. Blackhawks striker Henrik Borgström’s playing time was 12:25 and zero in all points and plus or minus columns.
In the other two games of the night, the Minnesota Wild beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-4 after penalties.
The home team Flyers scored the opening goal of the match through Joel Farabee, but then the Canucks took command and led the match until Claude Giroux equalized with just over a minute left on the clock. No goals in overtime meant penalties where Vancouver was better with two goals against the home team’s zero successful attempts.
Juho Lammikko had to play 9:13 minutes – third least of the Canucks players – and failed to score. His plus-minus balance was +1.
In Anaheim, the score went to Minnesota thanks to the hits of Kevin Fialas and Marcus Foligno. Jakob Silfverberg scored the home team’s only goal. Kaapo Kähkönen sat in the changing booth all evening. Cam Talbot guarded Wild’s goal with the excellent statistics 28/29 or 96.6%.
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