Stefan Noesen scored consecutive goals in the second period Sunday night for the host New Jersey Devils, who rode a five-goal flurry to a 6-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks in Newark, N.J.
The two-goal game was the fourth of Noesen’s career and his first since he scored twice for the San Jose Sharks against the Ducks on Jan. 27, 2020.
Jack Hughes scored in the first, Paul Cotter scored late in the second and Nico Hischier and Erik Haula added insurance goals in the third for the Devils, who snapped a four-game losing streak (0-2-2). Goalie Jacob Markstrom made 24 saves.
Brock McGinn gave the Ducks the lead in the first and Ryan Strome scored in the third for Anaheim, which has lost the first two games (0-2-0) of a four-game Metropolitan Division road trip. Goalie James Reimer recorded 28 saves.
McGinn capped an end-to-end rush with 4:47 lef in the opening period, when he took a drop pass from Troy Terry and fired a shot underneath Markstrom’s stick arm.
The Devils began their comeback 1:16 into the second following an impressive tic-tac-toe display of passing and shooting by Dawson Mercer, Timo Meier and Hughes. Mercer and Meier sent consecutive no-look passes to Hughes, who followed his shot and backhanded home the rebound.
Noesen put the Devils ahead at the 4:42 mark, The right winger was in the slot and took a pass from Johnathan Kovacevic before sending a shot past the screened Reimer, who had teammate Pavel Mintyukov in the shooting lane as Cotter skated by him.
Noesen and Cotter began putting the game away by scoring similar goals within a span of 86 seconds late in the period. Noesen took a pass from Jesper Bratt and flicked a forehand over Reimer’s glove with 2:37 left before Mercer dished the puck through the crease to Cotter, who beat Reimer.
The Devils capped their surge 1:50 into the third, when Dougie Hamilton passed through the neutral zone to a streaking Hischier, who had a step on Tristan Luneau before sending a shot over Reimer’s glove shoulder.
A turnover by Ondrej Palat led to Strome’s goal with 6:50 left in the game before Haula scored with 59 seconds remaining.
–Field Level Media