Devils Devour Sharks, Earn 7-2 Victory to Start Road Trip

The New Jersey Devils are in the third wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with 64 points.

On Tuesday night, New Jersey Devils captain Nico Hischier entered the SAP Center on a mission. He knew his team's situation and did what he had done repeatedly: lead by example.

The Devils earned a 7-2 victory over the San Jose Sharks in front of 10,982 fans to start their three-game California road trip.

The Devils were awarded the first power play of the game when Henry Thrun was called for interference against Tyler Toffoli. New Jersey sent out Luke Hughes, Jack Hughes, Jesper Bratt, Nico Hischier, and Toffoli. The unit sustained offensive zone pressure for two minutes and had six shots on goal.

Ex-Devils netminder Mackenzie Blackwood was excellent and kept his former team off the board.

For the 43rd time this season, the Devils surrendered the game's opening goal. With less than two minutes remaining, Nico Sturm scored his fourth goal of the season. Alexander Barabanov earned the lone assist.

Blackwood left the game with an apparent injury after playing 17:34. Kaapo Kahkonen replaced him in the crease to close out the first period with his team ahead 1-0.

At the start of the second period, the Sharks announced Blackwood would not return.

Bratt got the Devils on board and earned his 60th point of the season three minutes into the period. Timo Meier earned the primary assist and his first point against his former club. Hischier earned the secondary assist.

Less than one minute later, Jack Hughes extended New Jersey's lead to 2-1 on a breakaway. His 19th of the season was unassisted.

Hischier and Hughes earned their second point of the period with assists on Kevin Bahl's first goal of the season.

Defenseman Kevin Bahl celebrated his first goal of the season with a slap shot that beat Kahkonen. Hughes and Hischer each collected their second points of the period.

The Devils skated into the second intermission with a 3-1 lead over the Sharks. Devils' goaltender Nico Daws had a strong period, making 13 saves on 13 shots.

Less than three minutes into the third period, defenseman Colin Miller scored his third goal of the season. Hischier collected his third point of the night, while Meier earned his second.

Brendan Smith scored minutes later to extend his team's lead. Ondrej Palat and former Sharks forward Chris Tierney collected the helpers.

Over the span of one minute, Dawson Mercer and Hischier scored to make it 7-1 New Jersey. It was Hischier's fourth point of the night.

Justin Bailey scored to make it 7-2, with Ryan Carpenter and Henry Thrun earning their first points of the night.

Daws finished the game with 29 saves on 31 shots and a .935 save percentage.

UP NEXT: The Devils will face the Anaheim Ducks on Friday, March 1.

LINES:

Timo Meier - Nico Hischier - Jesper Bratt

Ondrej Palat - Jack Hughes - Curtis Lazar

Tyler Toffoli - Erik Haula - Dawson Mercer

Chris Tierney - Alexander Holtz

Kevin Bahl - John Marino

Luke Hughes - Brendan Smith

Jonas Siegenthaler - Simon Nemec

Colin Miller

Nico Daws

Make sure you bookmark THN's New Jersey Devils site for THN's latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.