Scott Wedgewood went more than a thousand days since his last NHL win. The latest one couldn't have come at a better time for the New Jersey Devils.
On a night when the Devils didn't have their starting goalie, Wedgewood came to the rescue in a 2-0 win over the Islanders on Sunday at Prudential Center. Wedgewood made 28 saves in place of Mackenzie Blackwood, who was placed on the COVID protocol list.
Jack Hughes and Pavel Zacha both scored in the first period to give a Devils a split in the back-to-back series with New York.
Wedgewood shut the door for the rest of the night as the Devils picked up their third win in five games.
This game was the culmination of a long journey for the 28-year-old Wedgewood, who was out of the NHL for the past two seasons. In that time, he made stops in Ontario, Rochester and Syracuse on the minor league level.
Some of his finest work on Sunday night came in the first period after Damon Severson was called for high-sticking. The Islanders fired six shots on the man advantage, but Wedgewood turned them all away to keep the game scoreless.
"The role I've been under here is prepare to play every night," Wedgewood said. "As a backup, you never know what's going to come your way."
So much of the focus heading into the game was getting more shots to the net. Coach Lindy Ruff called on the Devils to shoot more often and his team responded with 12 shots – and two goals – in the first period.
Hughes opened the scoring on a power play late in the period when he beat Ilya Sorokin from the left point. The Devils center has now scored three goals this season, after needing 12 games to reach the mark as a rookie.
Rookie defenseman Ty Smith picked up the primary assist on the play, and now has points in five straight games to start his career. That gives him the longest such streak by a blueliner in franchise history.
"When you start making plays and people finish, you get points," Ruff said. "We want our defensemen to try to find a lane and try to get it in there. He's been able to do that and he's been rewarded for it."
The Devils doubled their late with a minute left in the first period when Zacha cashed in on a rebound. Nikita Gusev started the play by skating around a defender and taking a shot from just outside the crease.
That was the first point for Gusev, who had led the Devils in shots coming into the game.
"We know he can make special plays," Ruff said. "He made a couple of them (on Sunday) at practice. I think once you get one and once you get on the board, it will start going for him."
With the win, the Devils (3-1-1) have now collected seven points in the first five games, which would put them on pace for 115 points in a normal season.
"We have a lot of hockey coming up and we're going to need four lines," Ruff said. "We're trying to balance the four lines. It doesn't mean that the lines won't change during the game."
