Dawson Mercer had a goal and an assist as the New Jersey Devils broke out of a rut with a 3-2 victory against the host Seattle Kraken on Monday night.
Paul Cotter and Ondrej Palat also scored for the Devils, who snapped a four-game losing streak. Goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 21 saves.
Adam Larsson and Shane Wright found the back of the net for Seattle, which went 0-2-1 in the last three games of its four-game homestand after winning the opener. Philipp Grubauer stopped 26 of 29 shots.
Palat scored the go-ahead goal at 2:01 of the third period, just 37 seconds after the Kraken tied the score at 2. Defenseman Dougie Hamilton carried the puck over the blue line and fed Jack Hughes, who was cruising down the right wing. Hughes left a drop pass for Palat, who put a one-timer over Grubauer’s catching glove from the slot.
Mercer opened the scoring at 7:56 of the first period, jumping off the bench to join a rush heading straight for the front of the net. Nico Hischier’s shot from the high slot was stopped by Grubauer, but Mercer was alone in front to corral the rebound, pulling the puck to his backhand and sliding the puck around the prone goalie.
Larsson tied the score at 15:47 of the period on a wrist shot from the top of the left faceoff circle that beat a screened Markstrom.
The Devils retook the lead at 19:35 of the second, as Mercer found Cotter with a stretch pass. Cotter slid the puck between Grubauer’s pads on a breakaway to make it 2-1.
The Kraken drew even at 2 on the power play at 1:24 of the third, as Kaapo Kakko set up behind the net and floated a pass to Wright in the low slot for a one-timer.
–Field Level Media
