The New Jersey Devils continued their road trip against the Vancouver Canucks on Friday evening. Despite nearly swallowing a 3-0 lead, they pulled it off held on for the 5-4 win – their fifth win in the last six games. They are now a perfect 3-0-0 on the road.
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“Fourth” line Absolute cooking
In Lenni Hameenaho’s first two NHL games, he didn’t look out of place at all as the Devils held a 13-1 lead with him on the ice. Surely, he had to come back to Earth… right!?
Well, just a minute and 41 seconds later, Hameenaho crashed the net and banged in a rebound for his first NHL goal. He was then harassed by his linemates Cody Glass and Arseny Gritsyuk.
FIRST NHL GOAL ALERT! 🚨
Lenni Hameenaho is on the scoresheet for the @NJDevils! pic.twitter.com/2ugaN7NVDL
— NHL (@NHL) January 24, 2026
That was not all: that line was renewed when Hameenaho provided an assist on a Glass goal. Glass later scored again – his third point of the evening – while his linemates had already been substituted. He has now scored six goals in his last seven games and is on a pace of around 27 goals in 82 games. What a revelation he has been.
As for the entire board, in their three games combined, they have a 19-9 shots advantage, a 15-5 edge in scoring opportunities, and are outscoring the opposition 3-0. Glass has also won ~54% of their encounters. (via natural statistical trick)
Considering how bad the Devils’ fourth line had previously been, it’s not a stretch to say that this unit has accomplished more through three games than any before it all season. Hameenaho now needs just two points to equal Luke Glendening’s total from 48 games (4). Talk about a breath of fresh air for the offense.
The power play continues
Since the height of the eight-game win streak in October, the Devils’ power play had converted at a 17.5% clip – 23rd in the NHL. To make matters worse, it wasn’t due to a lack of process; their power play has produced 10.02 expected goals per 60 (xGF/60) this season – 6th in the NHL. They just didn’t manage to cross the finish line.
Tonight, both Nico Hischier and Connor Brown found the man advantage as they went 2-for-3. However, they did concede a short goal.
Either way, the 2-for-3 night is certainly a show they can build on. Last season, the Devils’ poor, even goal production was consistently saved by a power play that was near the best in the league, propelling them into the playoffs.
That hasn’t been the case this season, which is a big part of why they’re on the outside looking in. But it’s not too late to turn the story around…
They don’t ask how…
Tonight’s win puts the Devils just three points behind the New York Islanders for third place in the Metropolitan Division. However, what (at one point) seemed like a stress-free victory turned out to be anything but.
The Devils took a 3-0 lead, but then started to crumble. After the Canucks made it 3-2, the Devils answered back, but the Canucks wouldn’t go away, making it 4-3. Glass’ insurance goal – his team’s fifth – should have sealed the deal, but the Devils put in a disastrous performance in a 6-on-5 scenario, failing to convert on a pair of empty nets.
Then, Brock Boeser scored with 1:12 to go, making the score 5-4. Luckily, the Devils were able to hold on, but their fans who stayed up late might wake up with a few more gray hairs.
You can never make it easy, can you?
— anne (@njdevilsfan1313) January 24, 2026
Once again, Jacob Markstrom struggled, stopping just 21 of 25 (0.840%). By money puckhere were the chances of each of the four not being a goal: 23%, 13%, 43% and 35%. While the first, third and fourth were all considered high-danger opportunities, it would have been much less stressful if he had come up with a big save on one or two of those four.
Nevertheless, the Devils keep rolling. Right now it’s the two points that matter.
Come on
Now 27-22-2, the Devils will look to make it six wins in seven games when they meet the Seattle Kraken on Sunday (3 p.m. EST).
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