Former New Jersey Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made 44 saves to earn a shutout in his return to Prudential Center.
Former New Jersey Devils goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood made 44 saves to earn a shutout in his return to Prudential Center.
It was not their night.
The New Jersey Devils hit the ice on Sunday night looking to secure their fourth straight victory before leaving for a three-game road trip.
In New Jersey's crease was Jake Allen, a veteran slowly inching towards his 200th NHL win.
On the other side, a familiar face.
Wearing the San Jose Sharks crest was 6-foot-4, 225-pound Mackenzie Blackwood. A New Jersey draft pick from 2015, he made his first start at Prudential Center since being traded to the Sharks in the summer of 2023.
After 60 minutes, the Devils fired 44 shots at Blackwood but could not get any pucks past him. New Jersey was shutout for the second time this season, suffering a 1-0 loss.
According to Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe, the Sharks' goaltender had an easy night.
"I didn't think we did enough through two periods, certainly of making it hard on their goaltender," Keefe said. "I thought we made life real easy on him, quite honestly."
Ironically, the word Blackwood used was easy when he met with reporters post-game.
"It's just one of those nights where it feels easy," Blackwood said. "I don't know why sometimes that happens, and sometimes it doesn't, but sometimes pucks just seem like they are coming in slow. I don't know why, but definitely, you could say today was one of those days I was seeing the puck well."
The lone goal scored was deflected in the net past Allen off Timo Meier's left skate.
"That's just hockey," Allen said of the goal. "Some of those will go our way this year, some of them will go against us. That is just the nature of the game. What can you do?"
Through the first two periods, the Devils tended to pass and did not have the shoot-first mentality.
"On a lot of chances we tried to make an extra pass, we got too cute," Meier said. "That is what happens. Sometimes you have just got to find kind of the garbage ones in front of the net, get pucks through, and fight on the inside. We did not do that."
The team will look to put this one behind them as they have a tough road trip this week with games against the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
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