CALGARY, Alberta (AP) Nico Hischier scored twice and the New Jersey Devils beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 on Saturday for their third straight victory and sixth in seven games.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist, Timo Meier also scored and Vitek Vanecek made 23 saves to help the Devils improve to 14-10-1. They are 9-4-0 on the road.
“It’s not rocket science. You’ve got to go to the net hard and good things happen,” Hischier said. “You have to simplify your game. That’s what we’ve done the last couple games. We’ve got some lucky bounces but if you’re not going there, you’re not getting them.”
Former Devils forward Yegor Sharangovich and Nazem Kadri scored for Calgary. The Flames finished a six-game homestand 3-3-0, leaving them 11-13-3.
”In the second, I thought we got away from it. Still a tight game, but I thought we made it hard on ourselves,” Flames captain Mikael Backlund said. “We weren’t playing as fast and we weren’t as efficient getting in on the forecheck.”
Rookie Dustin Wolf, making consecutive starts for the first time in his career, stopped 26 shots for Calgary.
The Devils took a 2-1 lead midway through the second period on a controversial goal.
After Hischier mishandled the puck on a scoring chance, Flames forward Blake Coleman banked a clearing attempt off Bratt and into the net. However, seconds earlier, Wolf was knocked off balance and sent spinning when Hischier slid into his pads.
Calgary coach Ryan Huska challenged for goalie interference, but the call stood with the explanation that Coleman sent Hischier into the goalie.
“The guys in the room have a lot of different views,” Calgary coach Ryan Huska said. “We didn’t feel there was a push on our part for him to go into the goalie so that’s why we challenged.”
The Devils took a 3-1 lead at 8:59 of the third when Wolf’s errant outlet pass was intercepted by Alexander Holtz, who fired a puck toward the front of the net for a deflection by Meier.
Kadri scored with 5:14 left, and Hischier put it away with an empty-netter in the final minute.
“We’re trying to elevate our game,” Hischier said. “I think we’ve done it so far but I think there’s still another step in our game, especially to bring together a 60-minute hockey game.”
UP NEXT
Devils: At Edmonton on Sunday.
Flames: At Colorado on Monday night.
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