Devils vs. Canucks: Nico Hischier Scores His 200th as New Jersey's Power Play Finally Wakes Up

The New Jersey Devils walked into Saturday with a power play that had produced one goal in 14 tries and a habit of falling behind 1-0 every single night. By the end of the second period, the power play had three goals, the captain had a milestone, and the Devils had finally held a lead this season.

Nico Hischier scored twice, including the 200th goal of his NHL career, and added an assist as the Devils beat the Vancouver Canucks 4-1 on Saturday afternoon at Prudential Center. Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist, Jack Hughes set up two goals, and Jake Allen made 20 saves in his 500th NHL game.

Same Old Start, Brand New Ending

For a few minutes, it looked like the same script. Anthony Mantha went off for hooking, and at 5:27 of the first, Linus Karlsson swept in a shot from the right hash marks on the Vancouver power play, with Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk assisting. According to the AP, the Devils have now trailed 1-0 in all four of their games this season.

Then the Devils flipped it. Jonathan Lekkerimaki took a high-sticking minor at 7:02, and 61 seconds later Hischier buried a shot from the slot with assists from Arseny Gritsyuk and Luke Hughes. It was his first goal of the season and No. 200 of his career, and it was just New Jersey's second power-play goal in 15 attempts this season, per the AP.

"I mean, obviously it makes me proud a bit for sure," Hischier said, per the NHL's recap. "Like that's something nobody's going to take away from me. But hopefully there are a couple more coming."

Vancouver then temporarily lost its starting goalie in about the strangest way possible. Leevi Merilainen left at 14:33 of the first when his skate blade came off the boot, and Kevin Lankinen came in cold to finish the period. Less than two minutes later, Amadeus Lombardi fired from the slot and Jesper Boqvist chipped the rebound in from outside the left post at 16:24. That was Boqvist's second of the season, Lombardi's first NHL point, and, per the AP, New Jersey's first lead of the season.

The Turning Point: Boeser in the Box, Bratt in the Circle

Merilainen returned for the second period, but the special-teams problem followed Vancouver back onto the ice. Boeser was whistled for hooking at 3:17, and at 4:36 Bratt snapped a wrist shot from low in the left circle for his first goal of the season. Hischier and Jack Hughes assisted, and suddenly it was 3-1.

That was the moment the game tilted for good. A one-goal lead with a shaky power play is a coin flip. A two-goal lead with a suddenly functional one is a different conversation. The Canucks pushed back, and DeBrusk got two good looks, but Allen stoned him with the left pad on a backhand down the slot at 12:48 and then gloved his wrist shot at 15:32.

"We let our guard down for a second, but that's my job," Allen said. "The boys rebounded right away and scored a couple big goals to open it up a little bit."

New Jersey put the cherry on top with 10 seconds left in the period. Drew O'Connor was called for tripping at 18:07, and Hischier finished a snap shot from the left post at 19:50 off feeds from Jack Hughes and Bratt. Three power-play goals in four tries, against a team the NHL noted has now allowed six power-play goals in its past two games.

Hischier, Hughes and a Goalie Hitting 500

Hischier finished with 2 goals and an assist in 18:59 and won 8 of 13 faceoffs. The AP noted he is the fifth Swiss player to score 200 goals and the second fastest of that group to get there, doing it in 613 games; linemate Timo Meier reached 200 in 569. The NHL added that he is now the fifth player in Kansas City Scouts/Colorado Rockies/Devils history with 200 goals and sits one goal from tying Bobby Holik and Travis Zajac (202) for third.

Jack Hughes had two assists, and the NHL's notes say it was his 65th career multi-assist game, tying Scott Niedermayer for the fourth most in Devils history.

Allen made 20 saves on 21 shots in his 500th NHL game. Per the NHL, he joined Jacob Markstrom and Martin Brodeur as the only goalies to earn a win in their 500th NHL game with the Devils. "It was a proud day for me," Allen said. "I've extended my career a lot longer than I thought possible and I'm pretty proud of that."

Bratt had a goal, an assist and four hits, and Luke Hughes logged 23:13 with an assist on the tying goal.

For Vancouver, Merilainen made 31 saves on 34 shots and Lankinen stopped 2 of 3. Boeser had an assist but also took two hooking minors, and he owned it. "We've got to stay out of the box, myself included," Boeser said.

Stats That Matter

• 3-for-4: New Jersey's power play, after it went 1-for-14 over its first three games.
• 37-21: The Devils' shot advantage. They have taken at least 30 shots in each of their first four games, per the AP.
• 10 seconds: Time left in the second when Hischier scored to make it 4-1.
• 500: Games in Allen's NHL career, celebrated with a win.

What It Means

New Jersey gets to 2-2-0 and snaps a two-game skid that included a 6-0 loss at the Islanders and a 5-3 home loss to Utah. Hischier's explanation was simple. "We put a lot of pucks on net, and I think that's a good recipe," he said. The Devils host Ottawa on Monday night.

Vancouver drops to 2-4-0 and has lost three straight, getting outscored 14-5 in that stretch, according to the AP. The Canucks are 0-2-0 to start a six-game road trip after a 7-2 loss at Carolina on Thursday, and coach Manny Malhotra wants more bite from his group. "From a work ethic standpoint, it just needs to be much more difficult for teams to recover pucks and get to their sets," he said. Vancouver visits the New York Rangers on Sunday.

Closing Take

Some teams need a pep talk. The Devils apparently needed reps, and Hischier said as much: "You just need to stay patient sometimes." The power play went from dial-up to fiber optic in one afternoon, the captain crossed 200 and the veteran goalie got the win in No. 500. If New Jersey keeps shooting like this, the 1-0 holes will start feeling a lot less permanent.

Stats from the official box score via ESPN. Game details from the Associated Press; postgame quotes and game notes as reported by NHL.com.