P.K. Subban scored the tiebreaking goal early in the third period Thursday night, and the New Jersey Devils hung on to edge the San Jose Sharks 2-1 in Newark, N.J.
Jesper Bratt scored in the second period for the Devils, who have won five of their past eight games. All the victories have been recorded by goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, who made 36 saves Thursday and hasn't lost since Jan. 30.
Tim Heed scored his first goal in almost a year for the Sharks, who have lost two straight following a two-game winning streak. Goalie Martin Jones recorded 23 saves.
A delay-of-game penalty on Mario Ferraro generated the power play that resulted in Subban's go-ahead goal early in the third. With Miles Wood screening Jones, Subban fired a shot from in front of the blue line that sailed into the far corner of the net 2:56 in the final period.
A faceoff win by the Sharks deep in the Devils' zone led to Heed's first goal since Feb. 24, 2019. After Alexander True outdueled Kevin Rooney, the puck bounced to Jacob Middleton. The San Jose defenseman passed to an open Heed, whose shot from just in front of the blue line sailed past Blackwood, who was screened by five players, at the 7:22 mark of the first period.
Bratt tied the game on a breakaway late in the second period. Nikita Gusev chipped a no-look pass to Pavel Zacha, who fired a pass through the neutral zone to the streaking Bratt. The Devils left winger shuffled the puck as he neared Jones before tucking a shot past the goalie's right skate at 16:15.
The Sharks pulled Jones with a little under a minute left but could not get the equalizer. San Jose had its best chance when Joe Thornton delivered a feed to Patrick Marleau near point-blank range, but Blackwood reached between his legs and made the save with 28.5 seconds remaining.
--Field Level Media
