By Tom Canavan, The Associated Press on November 21, 2022.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – Nico Hischier had three assists and the no-name New Jersey Devils beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 Monday night to match a franchise record with their 13th consecutive win. Jesper Bratt, Dawson Mercer, Damon Severson, Tomas Tatar and Yegor Sharangovich scored for the Devils, who haven’t lost since Oct. 24 against Washington. Vitek Vanecek made 27 saves for New Jersey. Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored for the Oilers, beaten twice by New Jersey during its run. Stuart Skinner made 23 saves, but had the puck taken off his stick by Hischier early in the second period to set up the go-ahead goal by Mercer into a wide-open net. Severson stretched the margin to 3-1 on a counterattack minutes later. Edmonton made a push early in the third. Nugent-Hopkins cut it to 3-2 at 4:52 and had a close-in chance to tie it, only to be stopped by Vanecek, who improved to 9-1. Tatar gave the Devils breathing room about a minute later, gloving down the rebound of Mercer’s shot and beating Skinner. Sharangovich added an insurance goal with 5:15 to go. Jack Hughes had two assists for the Devils. ROUGH NIGHT IN NET Not only did Skinner hand the Devils the go-ahead goal, backup netminder Jack Campbell also had a bad night. Sitting on the end of the bench late in the second period, Campbell was cut when he was hit in the face by a puck that seemed to be deflected by Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton. Campbell immediately left the bench and did not return for the third period. UP NEXT Oilers: Continue their swing through the New York metropolitan area when they visit the Islanders on Wednesday. Edmonton finishes in New York City on Saturday against the Rangers. Devils: Host the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday night. ___ More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports 16