Hischier has 3 points, Hughes, Mercer each gets goal, assist for New Jersey

Devils at Canucks Hockey Club | Recap

By Kevin Woodley

NHL.com Independent Correspondent

October 31, 2024

VANCOUVER -- Nico Hischier had a goal and two assists, and Jacob Markstrom made 20 saves for the New Jersey Devils in a 6-0 win against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on Wednesday.

Jack Hughes and Dawson Mercer each had a goal and an assist for the Devils (7-4-2), who have won consecutive games after going 0-2-2 in their previous four.

“We came out with a good start and just never let off the pedal,” Mercer said. “Consistent throughout the full game and [Markstrom] shut the door, and that's all we can ask for.”

Arturs Silovs gave up six goals on 22 shots in his first start in six games for the Canucks (4-2-3), who have lost two straight (0-1-1) after winning their previous four.

“It was embarrassing. We should be embarrassed,” Vancouver defenseman Tyler Myers said. “Even through some wins the last couple weeks, there's some things within our game right now that we’ve got to clean up and we’ve got to find our identity.”

NJD@VAN: Hischier puts a shot home on the rush to break the ice

Hischier scored his NHL-leading 10th goal on a 2-on-1 just 53 seconds into the first period to put the Devils ahead 1-0, taking a pass from Mercer and snapping a short-side shot over Silovs' blocker from the bottom left circle.

“Riding a wave right now a bit,” said Hischier, who has scored in four straight games. “It's going in and in my career I have had some places where they weren't going in, so I'll just keep riding the wave. … Obviously now I got confidence in my shot and try to use it a little bit more.”

Mercer scored on a short-handed 2-on-1 at 1:35 of the second period, converting a rebound from Hischier’s shot off Silovs' right pad to make it 2-0.

Hischier said he was trying to score, but it turned into a perfect pass off the pad.

“I was wondering if he was going to shoot or pass and he ended up making the right play and it came right to me so I'm happy enough to get chances like that and try to bury them and it worked out in the good way for me,” Mercer said.

NJD@VAN: Mercer puts away the rebound short-handed in the 2nd

Timo Meier made it 3-0 at 3:07 with a rush wrist shot from the left face-off dot between the legs of Myers, giving New Jersey’s top line three goals.

“To have a start like that for the game for our line was huge,” Mercer said. “When you're feeling it you want to get [Hischier] the puck and he's shooting and he's scoring and making plays, so we're definitely having a bit of success right now and we would like to keep that running."

Ondrej Palat scored his first goal of the season on another rush chance to make it 4-0 at 14:04, knocking his own rebound out of the air while cutting across the top of the crease and having it bounce off the post and in off the back of Silovs.

“Everything went wrong, right from the beginning,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “And then, obviously, some guys were struggling, and it just rolls like that. You're going to have games like this in an 82-game schedule. We’ve just got to flush it down the toilet right now.”

Markstrom stopped Teddy Blueger on a breakaway at 16:00 of the second period to preserve his first shutout of the season and the 21st of his career.

“We've been working towards getting the system and everybody on the same page and the last few games has been huge improvements,” Markstrom said. “Today was another one where all four lines and six defensemen played really good and special teams was good again, so it makes my job really easy.”

Hughes made it 5-0 at 9:22 of the third period on a backdoor power play pass from Stefan Noesen, giving him two points in the second NHL game featuring all three Hughes brothers -- Jack and Luke play for the Devils, Quinn for the Canucks. All three brothers had at least one point in the first game, a 6-5 Devils win on Dec. 5, 2023. It was also the eighth time Jack and Quinn have played against each other, and the Devils improved to 7-1-0 in those games, with 15 points for Jack (eight goals, seven assists) and five assists for Quinn.

“Not good enough,” Quinn said.

Tomas Tatar scored on a backdoor tap-in from Nathan Bastian at 14:06 for the 6-0 final.

“We were full marks for all three periods,” Devils coach Sheldon Keefe said. “All four lines, special teams, goaltending, everything was good. … It's a low event hockey game, but the fact our guys were comfortable in that I love as well, especially once we got the lead. We want to keep the game under control and not allow momentum to swing. A ton of good things we can bottle up and take with us.”

NOTES: New Jersey was 1-for-2 on the power play and killed off all three Vancouver chances with the man-advantage, including a four-minute high-sticking penalty to Jesper Bratt 4:00 into the game. … Bratt had one assist to extend his point streak to six games (seven points; one goal, six assists). … Quinn Hughes had 10 shot attempts in a Canucks-high 26:23 but only three made it on net. … Canucks forward Brock Boeser had his point streak end at six games (three goals, four assists).