Timo Meier Scores Twice In Sharks’ 5-2 Win Over Devils

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Sharks’ starring scorer Timo Meier scored twice, James Reimer made 32 saves and San Jose defeated the New Jersey Devils 5-2 connected Tuesday night.

Noah Gregor, Jacob Middleton and Erik Karlsson besides scored for the Sharks, who person started their five-game roadworthy travel astatine 2-0.

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Tomas Tatar and Jesper Bratt scored for the Devils, and Mackenzie Blackwood had 26 saves.

Gregor opened the scoring astatine 4:26 of the first, beating Blackwood for his archetypal extremity of the season. Radim Simek and Marc-Edouard Vlasic assisted.

Middleton made it 2-0 astatine 4:14 of the 2nd play with his 2nd extremity this season, with assists going to Gregor and Alexander Barabanov. It was Middleton’s 2nd extremity successful 30 NHL games. The rugged defenseman has spent astir of his playing vocation with the Sharks’ AHL affiliate successful San Jose, the Barracuda.

“Another large roadworthy triumph for our team,” Middleton said. ”Especially aft the commencement of the crippled we had successful Chicago (the archetypal triumph connected the road), we were looking to travel retired each cylinders firing. I deliberation we did that successful the archetypal and we had an adjacent amended second.”

Meier poured it connected to marque it 3-0 midway done the 2nd connected the powerfulness play, and Karlsson followed not agelong aft to marque it 4-0 San Jose.

““It was a bully crippled for us,” Sharks manager Bob Boughner said. ”I thought that we got immoderate contributions passim the lineup, which was bully tonight, and immoderate large goals, timely goals.”

Despite having guardant Jack Hughes backmost successful the lineup for the archetypal clip since the 2nd crippled of the season, the Devils offered a minimal violative onslaught against the Sharks until the 3rd period.

“I thought astatine times helium truly skated well,” Devils manager Lindy Ruff said of Hughes, who missed 17 games aft suffering a enarthrosis wounded connected Oct. 19 against Seattle. ”Jack was successful connected immoderate opportunities that helium could person turned into goals and it conscionable didn’t happen.”

Tatar ruined Reimer’s shutout bid with his 4th extremity astatine 9:12 of the third. Pavel Zacha and Devils skipper Nico Hischier assisted, the 100th vocation assistance for the 22-year-old.

Bratt past made it a 4-2 crippled with his sixth extremity astatine 12:49, and Andreas Johnsson had the lone assist.

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“Our puck play successful wide wasn’t good, our attraction to coming backmost and playing immoderate defence evidently wounded us,” Ruff said. ”They made immoderate mistakes, and we fto immoderate bully violative opportunities conscionable gaffe distant and the ones we made, they took vantage of.”

Meier’s 2nd extremity of the crippled (his team-leading 11th extremity of the season) came with 3 minutes near successful the 3rd with Blackwood pulled for an other attacker.

“He’s been 1 of our champion players each twelvemonth and again tonight,” Boughner said of Meier, who leads the Sharks with 22 points. “I similar each the small things he’s doing this season. He’s done a existent bully occupation of being a item player.”

The Devils announced earlier Tuesday that the 20-year-old Hughes agreed to an eight-year, $64 cardinal declaration hold that starts adjacent play aft his three-year introduction level pact expires.

“He’s a tremendous competitor, a large kid,” Ruff said. ”He’s got this cognition that it’s ne'er accidental dice and helium ever wants to beryllium retired there.”

Hughes was the archetypal wide prime by the Devils successful the 2019 draft.

“No rust. I would person liked to play a small spot much to assistance my squad win,” Hughes said. ”I got to nutrient and enactment the puck connected nett more. Like I said, there’s things I got to sharpen up but not overmuch rust; I felt beauteous bully retired there.”

NOTES: Former Devils John Maclean and John Madden are adjunct coaches with the Sharks. … The Sharks scratched forwards Scott Reedy and Jasper Weatherby positive defenseman Santeri Hatakka. … The Devils scratched defensemen Mason Geertsen and Colton White.

Up Next:

Devils: Visit the Minnesota Wild connected Thursday night.

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Sharks: Are scheduled to sojourn New York Islanders connected Thursday night, though the Islanders’ past 2 games person been postponed due to the fact that of a COVID-19 outbreak.