New Jersey Devils vs. Dallas Stars Pick & Prediction JANUARY 27th 2023
Two of the NHL's top teams will look to enter the midseason break on a high note when the New Jersey Devils visit the Dallas Stars on Friday.
With the NHL All-Star break looming, both New Jersey and Dallas will be playing their last game until Feb. 6.
If the Stars win on Friday, they would ensure themselves of remaining in first place in the Western Conference until their return to the ice. Meanwhile, the Devils need to keep winning to stay close to the Carolina Hurricanes for the Metropolitan Division lead.
Jimmy Liu
The Stars couldn't provide any help to the Devils in the Metro race Wednesday as they dropped a 3-2 result in overtime to the Hurricanes. It was the Stars' second consecutive overtime defeat, as they had an identical 3-2 setback to the Buffalo Sabres on Monday.
These consecutive non-regulation defeats have continued a frustrating trend for the Stars this season. Dallas is only 3-9 in games decided in overtime or shootouts.
"I think the overtime thing is a little bit of self-fulfilling prophecy right now," Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. "We just don't have a lot of confidence for whatever reason in overtime, so we've got to find that swagger again. ...
"(In overtime) you want to hold onto possession, you want to be patient, you want to wait out the other team a little bit. And for whatever reason, we just haven't executed at that time of the game."
DeBoer also noted the somewhat random nature of overtime/shootout results, and Dallas hasn't had much of a pattern in that regard. The Stars were an excellent 15-6 in non-regulation games last season, 6-14 during the 2020-21 season and 11-8 in the 2019-20 season.
New Jersey is 7-4 in overtime/shootouts this season and had gone beyond regulation play in each of its past four games heading into a Thursday road date with the Nashville Predators. That run ended when the Devils took a 6-4 regulation loss, ending New Jersey's points streak at eight games (7-0-1).
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It wasn't a sharp night for New Jersey's defense, as the Predators capitalized on multiple turnovers and had 41 shots on net -- the second-highest total by a Devils opponent this season.
Devils captain Nico Hischier felt his team "didn't deserve to win that game" given all of the defensive mistakes.
"It's rule number one, nobody gets behind you," Hischier said. "We can't do it (against Dallas), we can't do it ever. It's just not acceptable. You're not winning hockey games like that."
Even with the loss in Nashville, the Devils still have the NHL's best away record (18-3-2).
New Jersey's Jack Hughes, who registered a goal and an assist on Thursday, has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) over the course of a seven-game points streak.
Since Mackenzie Blackwood started in goal for the Devils on Thursday, Vitek Vanecek will likely face the Stars on Friday. Vanecek is a perfect 8-0-0 with a 2.07 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage in his past eight games.
Jake Oettinger is likely to be Dallas' starting goalie on Friday, though the Stars might opt to give backup Scott Wedgewood some action. Wedgewood hasn't played since Jan. 19, and his layoff would be extended by the Stars' upcoming break in the schedule.
In the teams' first meeting of the season, the Stars recorded a 4-1 win on Dec. 13 in Newark, N.J.
--Field Level Media
New Jersey Devils vs. Dallas Stars Recap JAN 27TH 2023
Jack Hughes scored his second goal of the game 20 seconds into overtime to give the New Jersey Devils a 3-2 road victory over the Dallas Stars on Friday.
The Devils trailed 2-0 after the first period, but Hughes and Miles Wood quickly equalized within the first four minutes of the second frame. That concluded the scoring in regulation time, setting up Hughes for his fifth game-winning tally of the season.
Hughes has 15 points (seven goals, eight assists) over the course of an eight-game points streak.
Vitek Vanecek stopped 33 of 35 shots. Vanecek is a perfect 9-0-0 in his last nine starts, joining Martin Brodeur as the only Devils' goaltenders with a winning streak of nine or more games in franchise history.
Dougie Hamilton had two assists for the Devils defenseman's fourth consecutive multi-point game.
New Jersey is 8-1-1 in its last 10 games, with five of those victories coming in overtime or shootouts.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Stars have lost three consecutive games in overtime, all by a 3-2 score on home ice. Dallas is only 4-9 in non-regulation games this season.
Ty Dellandrea and Roope Hintz scored for the Stars during a dominant first period that saw Dallas outshoot New Jersey by a 13-5 margin.
Dellandrea caught a break when his shot from behind the back line deflected off the skate of New Jersey forward Erik Haula and into the net, giving Dellandrea the opening goal 10:50 into the game.
The Devils then ran into penalty trouble, giving the Stars a 5-on-3 power play late in the period. The two-man advantage led to Hintz blasting a one-timer from the circle for his 20th goal of the season and the 100th goal of his NHL career.
After New Jersey equalized in the second period, the Stars continued the pressure but Vanecek was up to the task. Vanecek made a pair of highlight-reel saves in denying Joe Pavelski on a breakaway midway through the period, and then stopping Jamie Benn on another strong scoring chance at the 13:16 mark.
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 26 of 29 shots.
--Field Level Media
- NHL
