Cory Schneider finally broke into the win column, but much of the postgame chatter revolved around a couple of third-period incidents involving New Jersey rookie Jack Hughes.
Schneider made 27 saves to earn his first-season victory, leading the Devils to a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night. However, the final period saw Hughes involved in a leg-to-leg collision that left Detroit’s Robby Fabbri shaken, and later, Hughes was on the receiving end of a hit by Tyler Bertuzzi, which sparked an extended scuffle.
“For some reason, they weren’t happy with the hit from Jack,” Devils interim coach Alain Nasreddine said. “But I didn’t want to leave Jack on the bench. … We did what we had to do.”
Joey Anderson, Jesper Bratt, Kyle Palmieri, and Nikita Gusev scored for the Devils, now winning seven of their last 10 games.
Detroit, meanwhile, is struggling with a 3-16-1 record in its last 20 games. Valtteri Filppula scored the only goal for the Red Wings.
Schneider, who improved to 1-6-1 on the season, secured his first win since March 25 of last year.
“It’s a bit of a relief,” Schneider said. “It’s just one game, but I would’ve liked to have had a few more by now.”
Anderson opened the scoring just 1:15 into the first period. Although Detroit goalie Jonathan Bernier stopped his initial close-range shot, Anderson scored on the rebound.
New Jersey outshot Detroit 17-9 in the first period but didn’t score again until the second. Bratt added to the lead on a power play, capitalizing on a rebound in the slot. Palmieri followed with his 23rd goal of the season, also on the power play, redirecting the puck past Bernier.
Filppula ended Schneider’s shutout bid with a power-play goal in the third period, but Gusev responded with a wrist shot from the slot during another power play, making it 4-1 with 6:20 remaining.
Tensions flared in the final period. Fabbri went down after a hit from Hughes, resulting in a tripping penalty that led to Detroit’s lone goal.
“I thought it was a bad hit,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. “I thought it should’ve been a five-minute penalty, but they called it a two.”
As the game wound down, Bertuzzi delivered a late hit on Hughes after he had released the puck. John Hayden of the Devils retaliated by coming up high on Bertuzzi with his stick, earning a major penalty for cross-checking and game misconduct.
“It’s great. He’s a team guy. That’s what he does,” Hughes said of Hayden’s response. “I think the boys were pretty pumped up that he went in there and did that.”
Officials had to separate Bertuzzi and Devils defenseman P.K. Subban, and in the aftermath, Bertuzzi threw a glove at Subban.
Game Notes:
- The Red Wings, who traded Mike Green and Andreas Athanasiou since their previous game, recalled D Gustav Lindstrom from the AHL’s Grand Rapids Griffins.
- New Jersey’s recent trades included sending Wayne Simmonds to Buffalo and Sami Vatanen to Carolina.
- Devils D Will Butcher, recovering from an upper-body injury, was scratched.
UP NEXT:
- Devils: At San Jose on Thursday night.
- Red Wings: Host Minnesota on Thursday night.
