New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe switched his forward lines, putting Paul Cotter with Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt.
On Oct. 12, at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe made his first adjustment to his forward group, putting Paul Cotter with Erik Haula and Stefan Noesen and moving Ondrej Palat to Curtis Lazar's wing.
The move paid off as Cotter, Haula, and Noesen combined for two goals and six assists, leading New Jersey to a 5-3 win over the Capitals.
Less than a week later, Keefe made further adjustments to his four lines.
On Thursday night, against the Ottawa Senators, the Devils used the below forward lines:
Timo Meier - Nico Hischier - Dawson Mercer
Paul Cotter - Jack Hughes - Jesper Bratt
Tomas Tatar - Erik Haula - Stefan Noesen
Ondrej Palat - Curtis Lazar - Nathan Bastian
The result?
A 3-1 victory over the Senators. Erik Haula, Nathan Bastian, and Paul Cotter scored, while goaltender Jacob Markstrom made 30 saves on 31 shots and was 1:05 away from a shutout.
"Outstanding," Keefe said. "Terrible he doesn't get the shutout that he deserves in this one here. You feel for him when they make that call, and you just kind of feel like it's just going to give them a little extra life. But he was outstanding for us, no question.
"I thought in the early going of the game in the first period he was really strong and really kind of let us get our legs going in the game," he continued. "And that's really what you want from your goaltenders, to give you a chance to hang around in the game, find your game, and once you have it, you have the confidence that he's going to help you take care of it."
When asked about what he thought of the changes he made up front to his lines, Keefe did not hesitate to mention Meier, who earned an assist.
"I liked Meier's game today. I like what he brought to that line," Keefe explained. "I thought we had some good individual performances. I like Hughes and Bratt again, and those guys have been really good. Cotter was, in his own way, was good. I gotta watch it back and see how much the line together was working and clicking.
"I liked that fact that the guys, despite the change, just went out and played," he continued. "Took care of the game the way they needed to, and our structure was far better today than it was in Carolina, and we got rewarded for it."
The team's defensemen also contributed offensively. Johnathan Kovacevic earned his fourth assist of the season on Haula's goal, and Brenden Dillon and Dougie Hamilton assisted on Cotter's fifth of the season.
It was Hamilton's first point of the season and first assist since Nov. 25, 2023.
The Devils will be off on Friday. On Saturday, Oct. 19, New Jersey will host the Washington Capitals at Prudential Center.
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