Dawson Mercer scored twice and Jack Hughes extended his point streak to four games in the New Jersey Devils' 5-2 loss to the San Jose Sharks Thursday night at SAP Center.
Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe gave goaltender Jake Allen the start. The 35-year-old made 23 saves on 25 shots for a .821 save percentage.
The puck bounced over Jonas Siegenthaler's stick near the blue line, leading to a breakaway by Sharks forward William Eklund. The 23-year-old beat Allen for a 1-0 San Jose lead 42 seconds into the game.
Philipp Kurashev, who picked up the lone assist on Eklund's goal, extended San Jose's lead to 2-0 at 12:12. Minutes later, the Sharks capitalized on a miscommunication between a couple of Devils players in the offensive zone, as Alexander Wennberg redirected Mario Ferraro's shot in front of Allen.
At 17:47, Dmitry Orlov was called for elbowing Ondrej Palat. While on the power play, Mercer scored his fifth goal of the season from one knee as he redirected Jack Hughes' shot. The 24-year-old has five goals and five assists in 11 games to start the 2025-26 campaign.
Late in the second period, Will Smith and Tyler Toffoli scored at even strength in the final five minutes of the period for a 5-1 Sharks lead heading into the second intermission.
Mercer scored his second of the night on the power play within the first five minutes of the final frame. Dougie Hamilton picked up his second assist of the night, and has five points in two games against San Jose this season.
New Jersey outshot the Sharks 9-0 in the third period but were unable to mount a comeback.
The Devils will continue their four-game road trip, playing the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night.
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