Devils Lose to Jets and Trade Recap

Jake Allen went behind his net but the puck ricocheted off his skate and into the slot. Luckily, Jack Hughes was there to make a defensive play to prevent a goal into the empty net. Hughes created a chance at the other end, but Hellebuyck fought off the partial breakaway attempt.

Simon Nemec was tagged for holding, giving the Jets a late power play, but the Devils killed it off, even generating a few shorthanded looks.

Jack Hughes was clearly feeling it, as he stripped the puck and created two more chances, but Hellebuyck came up big to bail out his Winnipeg teammates.

The Devils outshot the Jets 9-8 in the opening 20 minutes.

Period Two

The Jets had a few good looks in the early minutes of the period, but Allen made some good saves to keep the game tied.

Cody Glass blocked a heavy shot and was slow to get up and to the bench. In the meantime, the Jets capitalized on the extra ice and Vilardi grabbed his second point of the night, beating Allen at 3:23. Scheifele and Connor each added assists.

Glass went down the tunnel and did not return to the game.

Minutes later, at 7:51, the Devils’ defense got caught out of position and after Jack Hughes made an initial play to break up a chance, Cole Koepke scored off the ensuing rebound. Alex Iafallo and Morgan Barron had the assists.

The game continued to spiral for the Devils as they were tagged for holding, giving the Jets a second power play opportunity. The penalty kill came up huge to keep New Jersey in the game.

Jack Hughes had another excellent chance as he drove the net from the near side, but the puck wouldn’t go.

The Jets went the other way and again, the Devils’ defense was out of position, giving up a two-on-one that Nino Niederreiter fired home at 16:42. Vladislav Namestnikov and Adam Lowry had the assists.

The Devils nearly responded on a clear-cut breakaway chance by Meier, but Hellebuyck made the save.

New Jersey drew its first penalty of the game on the same play, earning a power play with just over two minutes to play.

During the power play, Bratt lit the lamp at 19:24 off a perfectly placed one-time pass by Jack Hughes in the far circle. Dougie Hamilton added a secondary assist, extending his point streak to eight games.

The Devils were outshot 14-5 in the middle frame.

Period Three

The teams exchanged chances in the early going, but nothing made it through to either netminder.

The Jets had a two on one break but Brenden Dillon made a nice sliding play to eliminate the chance.

Johnathan Kovacevic connected with Jack Hughes for a nice shot off a redirection, but Hellebuyck made the sliding stop.

Gritsyuk was hauled down, sending the Devils to the power play with six minutes left in the contest. The Devils put together a strong looking power play, putting five shots on Hellebuyck, but none hit the back of the net.

The Devils pulled Allen in favor of the extra attacker with 2:30 left, and at 18:14, Bratt found Hischier open in the slot as the captain drew the team within one. Jack Hughes added a secondary assist.

New Jersey pulled Allen again and the Jets nearly hit the empty net, but Jack Hughes made another wonderful play to take the puck right off Vilardi’s stick and rushed the other way where Hellebuyck bailed his team out again with a flurry of saves.

Despite the surge, time was not on New Jersey’s side and the clock expired, ending the late rally.

The Devils outshot the Jets 15-4 in the final frame and 29-26 in the game.

Takeaways

Putting it Together

For 40 minutes, the Devils played well and looked like the better team. However, the second period was disastrous for New Jersey, and that momentary dip in play was enough to cost them two points.

Defending the rush was a big problem for the Devils. In fact, every goal that they allowed was off the rush and, apart from the Vilardi goal on which Glass was injured, self-inflicted mistakes gave Winnipeg those opportunities.

The Jets have one line that is a consistent scoring threat and the Devils continuously played loose against it, cheating for offense and in turn, leaving themselves vulnerable to odd-man breaks with too many players below the puck.

This lack of attention to detail isn’t a new issue for the Devils, but it was more prominent than usual against Winnipeg. There needs to be more consistent situational awareness for the Devils to eliminate these game breaking periods that continue to sink the team.

Positives

Jack Hughes had his best game since returning from injury, a welcome sight for Devils fans. From the opening puck drop he was all over the ice, offensively and defensively, making things happen for himself and his teammates.

Hughes put up seven shots on net, the most of any player on either team. He wasn’t rewarded with a goal, but he did contribute two assists.

Beyond the offense, he added a block and two takeaways to his stat sheet for the night, including saving a goal with a stick play in the slot.

Hughes continues to look better and better as he works his way back from his hand injury and the Devils, as well as Team USA’s Olympic roster, will need him playing his best to get where they want to go.

Trade Details

During the first period of New Jersey’s contest against the Jets, it was announced that forward Ondrej Palat, along with a 3^rd round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft and a 6^th round pick in the 2027 draft, were traded to the New York Islanders in exchange for forward Maxim Tsyplakov. There was no salary retention.

Palat is in the fourth year of a five-year, $30 million ($6 million AAV) contract. Tsyplakov is the first year of a two-year, $4.5 million ($2.25 million AAV) deal.

In 248 regular season games with New Jersey, Palat recorded 38 goals and 54 assists for 92 points. This season, he has struggled, putting up just four goals and six assists for ten points in 51 games played.

Coming back to the Devils, Tsyplakov has tallied 11 goals and 26 assists for 37 points in 104 games played. This season, he has a goal and an assist in 27 games.

Devils Breakdown

The biggest “win” for the Devils in this trade is cap flexibility. For a $6 million AAV, Palat was not giving them what they needed. New Jersey’s stars thrive when they play a fast, highly skilled game and Palat’s slower, grinding style was not complementary.

While his playoff production can’t be denied, the Devils have to worry about making the playoffs in the first place, and getting that contract off their books opens opportunities for impactful moves to improve goal scoring down the stretch.

Tsyplakov also has some upside, and may be able to find a new level to his game under a new coach and system. He has some size, standing 6’3” and weighing 203lbs, and isn’t afraid of the physical side of the game, notching 186 hits in 104 games and 44 blocked shots.

Additionally, he has shown that he can produce offense. In 2024-25, he tallied 35 points (10g, 25a) in 77 games. For reference, Palat’s most productive offensive season with New Jersey came in 2023-24, when he tallied 31 points (11g,20a) in 71 games.

He fell out of favor with the Islanders this season, with major dips in all of his totals, but a change of scenery might be able to find his form again.

Up Next

The Devils look to get back in the win column on Thursday when they welcome Erik Haula and the Nashville Predators to the Prudential Center.

The Predators sit fifth in the Central Division, with a 24-23-5 record and a 5-4-1 record in their past ten contests. Most recently, they lost in overtime to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.

This is the first of two meetings between the Devils and Predators this season.

Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. EST on MSGSN and FDSNSO.

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