Jake Allen made 22 saves as the visiting New Jersey Devils picked up their fourth win in five games, 2-1 over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night.
Arseny Gritsyuk and Cody Glass each had a goal and an assist for New Jersey, which was playing the second game of a back-to-back that began with a 2-1 overtime victory at Calgary on Monday. The win moved the Devils to within four points of the Boston Bruins for the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference.
It was Allen’s first victory since Dec. 31 at Columbus, snapping a personal three-game losing streak.
Matt Savoie scored for Edmonton, which had a two-game win streak snapped and missed a chance to move into tie for first place in Pacific Division with the idle Vegas Golden Knights. Tristan Jarry, making his first home start with the Oilers following a Dec. 12 trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins, finished with 15 saves.
After a tight-checking scoreless first period that saw both teams limited to four shots on goal, Gritsyuk gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead at the 5:23 mark of the second period with a one-timer from the high slot that squeezed under the glove of Jarry. Dougie Hamilton picked up an assist to extend his point streak to six games.
Edmonton tied 1:39 later it when Savoie, stationed in the slot, deflected Jake Walman’s point shot past Allen’s blocker side.
The Devils regained the lead with the third goal in a span of 3:09 when Glass, after becoming untangled with Darnell Nurse along the boards after jumping on the ice during a line change, broke in alone and one-timed a Gritsyuk pass from the left circle past Jarry’s blocker side.
Edmonton dominated the first 15 minutes of the third period, outshooting the Devils, 11-0, including a breakaway by Vasily Podkolzin that Allen made a pad save on, and a close-in shot by Zach Hyman that clanged off the post.
The Oilers pulled Jarry for an extra attacker with 1:30 left but managed just one shot on goal, by defenseman Mattias Ekholm that Allen that made a pad save on.
–Field Level Media
