Posts Ring as Devils Press On Past Red Wings
Hughes and Bratt drive the push, Rodrigues adds touch, and Gibson faces a heavy workload in a game that felt wider than the margin.
The pipes told on the night: five dings, chance after chance, and the ice tilted toward the New Jersey Devils even if the scoreboard read 5-4.
New Jersey owned the better looks and more of the puck. Their chances added up to 4.66 expected goals — expected goals means how many an average night’s chances are worth — and they carried a 57.5 shot-attempt share, the backbone of why this felt bigger than a one-goal win. The iron kept it noisy: five rang posts, including two from Alex DeBrincat, helped Detroit hang around.
Within that tide, Jack Hughes (eight shots, three points) and Jesper Bratt (three points) drove the attack, while Evan Rodrigues chipped in a goal and an assist. New Jersey piled 37 shots to Detroit’s 26 and cashed their lone power play. At the other end, goalies skewed the picture: John Gibson stopped 32 but still saw five beat him; Jake Allen yielded four on 26, letting Detroit’s finish keep it close.
For a Devils team at 2-3-0 and still in the playoff race, this was the template: territorial control, net-front looks, and enough finish to make the bounces irrelevant.
