New Jersey goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made 30 saves to beat Vancouver for the second time in less than a month in the Devils' 2-1 win over the host Canucks on Sunday afternoon.
Blackwood made 25 saves in a shutout of Vancouver on Oct. 19 in New Jersey, and Sunday's road win was the 11th straight victory for the Devils over the Canucks. Wayne Simmonds and Jesper Bratt tallied for New Jersey, which ended its five-game road trip with a 3-2-0 record.
A 22-year-old native of Thunder Bay, Ontario, Blackwood improved to 4-0 against the Canucks, allowing a total of three goals in those games.
New Jersey played without standout defenseman Sami Vatanen, who took an elbow to the face in Friday's 4-0 loss in Edmonton.
Brock Boeser scored, and Jacob Markstrom stopped 25 of 27 shots for the Canucks, who are 0-3-1 in their last four and suffered their first regulation loss on home ice.
The Devils struck twice in a span of 22 seconds in the first period.
New Jersey scored at 11:48 on its second power play after Vancouver's Jordie Benn went off for cross-checking Miles Wood. Simmonds took a diagonal pass from Kyle Palmieri and shoveled in for his second goal, with Taylor Hall recording the secondary assist.
The Devils added on when Damon Severson fired a long blast near the blue line, and Bratt deflected the shot down and toward the far post, beating Markstrom for his fourth goal at 12:10. Pavel Zacha also notched an assist on the Bratt marker.
Markstrom kept the deficit at 2-0 with a spectacular save midway through the second frame. As the Canucks were changing lines, P.K. Subban zipped a perfect stretch-pass to a streaking Hall, who attempted a backhander in close. But Markstrom lunged forward and knocked the shot down with his glove.
Boeser cut the lead in half when he fired home his eighth goal early in the Canucks' second power play at 12:40. J.T. Miller and Quinn Hughes posted assists.
Blackwood stuffed Tanner Pearson's two-on-one attempt early in the third period, and with two minutes remaining, Vancouver pulled Markstrom for the extra skater.
But Blackwood made a pair of strong saves in the last 90 seconds to preserve the victory.
--Field Level Media
New Jersey | Vancouver | |
Jesper Bratt 1 | Points | Brock Boeser 1 |
Jesper Bratt 1 | Goals | Brock Boeser 1 |
Taylor Hall 1 | Assists | Quinn Hughes 1 |
Wayne Simmonds 1 | Power Play Goals | Brock Boeser 1 |
N/A | Short Handed Goals | N/A |
Mackenzie Blackwood .968 | Save Percentage | Jacob Markstrom .926 |
Mackenzie Blackwood 30 | Saves | Jacob Markstrom 25 |
Team | Shots | Goals | Power Play | Penalty Kill | Penalty Mins | Face Offs Won |
New Jersey | 27 | 2 | 1-2 | 2-3 | 6 | 24 |
Vancouver | 31 | 1 | 1-3 | 1-2 | 4 | 27 |