Nico Hischier’s natural hat trick in the second period helped the New Jersey Devils defeat the Nashville Predators 5-2 on Monday in Newark, N.J.
This was Hischier’s first-ever hat trick in his eight NHL seasons, and he ended his 10-game goal drought in a big way. Despite the recent slump, Hischier leads New Jersey with 13 goals this season.
Erik Haula and Justin Dowling also scored for the Devils, and Johnathan Kovacevic had two assists. Jacob Markstrom made 19 saves on 21 shots to earn the win.
The Devils have now won three straight games and are 8-2-0 in their last 10 games.
This victory marked New Jersey’s first home win against Nashville since March 3, 2015, breaking an eight-game losing streak against the Predators at home.
Filip Forsberg and Zachary L’Heureux scored for Nashville, who has a 2-3-2 record in their last seven games.
Juuse Saros stopped 26 of 30 shots before being replaced by Scott Wedgewood at the start of the third period. Wedgewood made 15 saves in relief.
Forsberg gave Nashville the lead with their first shot of the game at 5:06 of the first period. Haula tied it for the Devils at 11:29 after a nice passing play.
New Jersey took the lead 3:52 into the second period after Timo Meier passed to Hischier, who raced down the right side and scored, getting past Nashville defender Marc Del Gaizo.
The Devils were 1-for-2 on the power play, while Nashville was 0-for-5. Hischier scored New Jersey’s power-play goal at 10:01 of the second period.
Hischier completed his hat trick with a breakaway goal at 16:57 of the second period, after Stefan Noesen stole the puck at the blue line and passed to him.
L’Heureux scored for Nashville at 7:39 of the third period, but despite having a five-minute power play later in the game, Nashville could not score again after Meier’s major penalty for cross-checking L’Heureux.
Dowling sealed the win for the Devils with an empty-net goal at 17:25 of the third period.
