New Jersey’s 17-0 mark when leading after 40 minutes is the only unblemished lockdown left in the NHL, and Tuesday’s 2-1 win in Edmonton showed exactly why—fast counter-strike, airtight neutral-zone trap, and a goalie who refuses to flinch.
The Scoreboard Lies—This Was a Clinic in Closing
Final shots: 22-21 Edmonton. Final score: 2-1 New Jersey. The gap between those two lines tells the story of a team that has weaponized the third period like no other in 2025-26. Head coach Sheldon Keefe’s third-period scheme—collapsing four low, forcing every entry to the wall, and springing Arseny Gritsyuk for instant counter-punch—turned Rogers Place into a library for the last 20 minutes.
Glass & Gritsyuk: Russian Rookie & Reclaimed Forward Deliver Fatal 1-2
Arseny Gritsyuk opened scoring at 14:32 of the first, wiring a one-timer off a Dougie Hamilton seam pass—Hamilton’s sixth helper in six games since his Winnipeg scratch. The reply came 1:05 into the second when Matthew Savoie banked a rebound off Jake Allen’s mask, momentarily sucking life out of the Devils’ structure.
Response time: 90 seconds. Cody Glass roofed a breakaway forehand after Edmonton got caught in a bad change, restoring the lead and padding the league’s best post-40-minutes record to a perfect 17-0-0.
McDavid Stopped Cold—17-Game Point Streak vs NJ Snaps
Connor McDavid arrived with 31 points in 16 career games against the Devils. Zero on Tuesday. New Jersey’s 1-1-3 forecheck forced the puck wide, and when Ryan Nugent-Hopkins tried to funnel pucks inside, Johnathan Kovacevic erased the lane. The result: McDavid’s longest active point streak versus any opponent—17 games—dies inside a sold-out barn that expected magic and got a masterclass instead.
Allen’s Quiet 21-Save Statement
There were no sprawling glove grabs, only positioning. Jake Allen’s rebound control limited Edmonton to one second-chance look in the final frame. The veteran’s save percentage in third periods this season rose to .945, best among goalies with at least 15 starts—another pillar of the 17-0 fortress.
Standings Shockwave: What It Means Now
- Devils: 26-15-4 (56 pts) vault within two points of the Metropolitan lead with three games in hand on the Capitals.
- Oilers: 24-18-2 (50 pts) stay stuck in the Pacific wild-card wash, still searching for a three-game win streak that has eluded them nine separate times this season.
Keefe’s Kill Clock, Hamilton’s Revival, Lazar’s Milestone
Dougie Hamilton has gone from healthy scratch to indispensable: 7 points in 6 games, 24:34 TOI Tuesday, and the primary assist that sparked the winner. Curtis Lazar logged 10:09 in his 600th NHL appearance—fitting it came versus the club that traded for him twice in three seasons.
Next Up
Devils: Friday in Vancouver—where the Canucks have lost three straight at home—gives New Jersey a chance to match a franchise-best seven-game road point streak. Oilers: Pittsburgh arrives Thursday with Evgeni Malkin riding a six-game point binge; another two-game win “streak” will be on fragile ice.
For lightning-fast, definitive analysis on every breakaway, benching, and buzzer-beater, keep your rink-side tab locked on onlytrustedinfo.com—where the stats, stories, and stakes hit faster than a top-shelf slap shot.
