Here are some observations from the game:
• Dougie Hamilton returned to the lineup after missing the previous 18 games with a lower-body injury. His skating looked like his normal self, which means it was excellent. He was fluid, pivoted well, changed direction well, and didn’t look like there was any hesitation in his stride or angled leans. His reads and puck work will take time to get back with some expected rust, but most important was his skating appears fully recovered. Hamilton skated a team-high 23:43 minutes of ice time.
“It was great just to be back playing,” Hamilton said. “Good to get that and couple practices coming up. Hopefully, I’ll feel more comfortable and get back to where I want to be.”
“I thought he looked really confident and comfortable, made lots of plays,” head coach Sheldon Keefe said. “We got his minutes up in the third period to get him playing with an elevated heart rate and getting used to that. I thought it was a great day for him.”
• Hamilton was paired with Brenden Dillon, his defense partner from prior to his injury. The duo was put together tonight to get a game together before playoffs.
“It was big for me,” Dillon said. “I’ve been all over the map with my D partners the last 15-20 games here. For Dougie, we all the know the impact he can have on your lineup. I thought from the first shift we were communicating, some great reads, some O zone stuff. When Dougie is shooting the rock, he’s at his best.”
• The Devils iced a “preseason” lineup for the game against Detroit. With no ability to change their positioning in the standings and their playoff matchup set in stone, New Jersey did some load management. They scratched Nico Hischier, Jesper Bratt, Stefan Noesen, Timo Meier, Luke Hughes, Brett Pesce, Johnathan Kovacevic and Jacob Markstrom.
• Bratt’s streak of consecutive games played ends at 249. It began on April 24, 2022.
• Bratt finishes the season with a career-high 67 assists and 88 points. His 67 assists are the new Devils single season assist record.
• Nico Hischier finishes the season with a career-high 35 goals and 14 power-play goals.
• The Red Wings thought they scored the game’s opening goal halfway through the first period on a power play when Vladimir Tarasenko fired a shot into the far top corner. However, the Devils coaches challenged the goal based on goalie interference. In a review, it was clear that T.J. Compher’s stick hit goalie Nico Daws’ glove as he was moving it to make a save. The stick interrupted Daws’ ability to make the save and the goal was waved off.
“I didn’t catch it live. It was a subtle one,” Keefe said. “A little nudge on the glove. A tricky one. We needed to be sure the puck wasn’t already past at the time of the contact. I was challenging that one regardless. We needed the rep to get a challenge and get that sorted out.”
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