The New Jersey Devils hosted the Anaheim Ducks at the Prudential Center on Sunday night before embarking on a three-game road trip this week.

Despite losing a key forward to injury, the Devils overcame the shortened bench and exploded for six goals at home.

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After a slow start to the season at home, the Devils finally pulled out a victory, albeit an imperfect one, in front of their own fans.

Devils Recap

On Kurtis MacDermid’s first shift, he and Ducks heavyweight Ross Johnston dropped the mitts and engaged in a spirited fight. In terms of hits delivered, MacDermid certainly won.

Yet the Devils weren’t able to get that momentum onto the scoresheet, as Brock McGinn gave Anaheim an early 1-0 lead.

The Devils kept the pressure applied in the first period despite continuing to lead. It certainly paid off. On a deferred penalty, Jack Hughes finished a slightly broken tic-tac-toe. Stefan Noesen added two straight goals, including one on the power play, and Paul Cotter added some extra insurance to extend the Devils’ lead to 4-1.

Nico Hischier scored his ninth NHL goal of the season in the third period to extend the Devils’ lead by four. Ryan Strome then ended an Anaheim run to cut the deficit to three. Erik Haula hit the dagger with a minute remaining to help secure the 6-2 victory.

Jacob Markstrom earned its fourth win of the season and finished Sunday night making 24 saves on 26 shots.

Takeaways

Caught sleeping

It’s still too early to say that the Devils have the same goaltending issues as previous seasons. But it’s certainly hard to overlook the struggles their goalkeepers have been through in recent times.

That didn’t change Sunday against the Ducks with Markstrom in goal.

The Devils dominated most of the first period, outshooting their opponent 16-7. Yet they entered the first intermission chasing a lead off the stick of McGinn, who slotted a one past Markstrom.