Arseny Gritsyuk scored for the fourth straight game to help the New Jersey Devils to a 4-1 win against the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday night in Newark, N.J.
Jack Hughes had a goal and an assist, Nico Hischier and Anthony Mantha also scored, and Jesper Bratt had two assists for the Devils, who have won four of five. Nico Daws made 16 saves in his fourth start for New Jersey this season.
Tim Washe scored and Ville Husso made 25 saves for the Ducks, who have lost five in a row after a 4-1-0 start.
Gritsyuk scored at 4:38 of the first period to cap a long possession in the Anaheim zone and give New Jersey a 1-0 lead.
Jack Hughes had the puck above the left circle when he skated toward the middle of the ice and delivered a horizontal pass to Bratt in the right circle. Bratt made a touch pass to Gritsyuk in front of the crease and he redirected the puck into the net for his fifth goal of the season.
Late in the first period, Ducks forward Roger McQueen briefly appeared to score his first NHL goal off a feed from Alex Killorn, but Killorn was called for tripping Johnathan Kovacevic just after stealing the puck from him.
New Jersey scored on the ensuing power play after Bratt took a one-timer from the bottom of the right circle that Husso saved with his right pad, but his momentum took him out of the crease.
The rebound was left behind and Hischier had position on the Anaheim defenders, allowing him to sweep the puck into the net for his fifth goal of the season, stretching the lead to 2-0 with 41 seconds left in the first period.
The Ducks were outshot 11-2 in the first period.
After a scoreless second period, the Ducks cut the deficit to 2-1 at 8:20 of the third when Jackson LaCombe took a shot from the left point that Washe tipped into the net for his third goal of the season, second most on the team.
Mantha re-established the two-goal lead when he pushed a rebound between Husso’s pads and the puck slowly slid across the goal line for a 3-1 lead at 13:27.
Hughes scored into an empty net with seven seconds left to make it 4-1.
–Field Level Media
