Before the 2025-26 NHL season began, the Seattle Kraken were a popular pick to finish near the bottom of the standings. They were your prototypical expansion franchise. Sure, they made the playoffs in Year Two, even winning a round. But, other than that, they’ve been an under-.500 team. Now, a little more than halfway through the season, they are in the thick of the race for the Pacific Division crown and defying all their pre-season doubters.

Before the 2025-26 NHL season began, the New Jersey Devils were a popular pick to go to the Eastern Conference Final, perhaps even the Stanley Cup Final. They were a team on the rise, having made two playoff appearances in the last three years and had a young core that looked as formidable as it came. Now, a little more than halfway through the season, they are struggling to remain relevant in the Eastern Conference playoff race. 

Wednesday night at Prudential Center, the Devils hosted the Kraken with an eye on building some momentum for themselves. The Garden Staters entered the game six points back of third place in the Metropolitan Division and five back of the second wild card. The final score, a 3-2 overtime victory over Seattle, allowed them to start chipping away at the deficit they created for themselves by going 10-17-1 from November 18th to January 12th.

“You’re gonna have to be able to win different ways to be successful,” Jacob Markstrom said after the game. “You need a lot of tools in the toolbox and today was a great, patient game. It wasn’t a ton of scoring chances. It was hard work. Get it deep and then go from there. I thought our guys did a great job.”

Markstrom drew the start in net against the Kraken and stopped 15 of the 17 shots he faced. At the other end of the ice, Philipp Grubauer started for Seattle and saved 21 out of 24.

Wednesday morning, before the Devils skated in preparation for their game, team GM Tom Fitzgerald addressed the media (his first time doing so in months). Among the numerous topics he touched upon was that he wants to add upfront, the Devils’ need to find multiple ways to win games, the team not meeting their expectations or playing up to their standards and that Dougie Hamilton’s brief time as a healthy scratch was only ever about performance. 

Getting back to the game, Jonathan Kovacevic came out of the lineup as the team looks to manage his workload as he works his way back from offseason knee surgery. So, Hamilton remained in and Simon Nemec returned after serving one game as a healthy scratch.

Well, against Seattle, Hamilton continued to showcase his re-awakened offense as he recorded his third assist since being healthy-scratched. 54 seconds into the game, Hamilton wired a shot from the point towards Grubauer. Seattle’s netminder stopped the shot with a pad save. The rebound went straight to Cody Glass, who promptly deposited the puck into the net to give the Devils an early 1-0 lead. 

The Garden Staters failed to add to that lead when their former D-man Adam Larsson was called for high-sticking Luke Glendening at 5:53 of the first period. Larsson got a measure of revenge at 8:55 by sniping the puck past Markstrom from the high slot to tie the game 1-1. Sticking with our “opposites” theme, while New Jersey’s power-play fizzled, its penalty-kill stood strong when Hamilton was sent to the box at 9:55 for tripping Chandler Stephenson. 

That was all for the first period, so the game moved to the second, where the tit-for-tat plays continued. 

First, Ben Meyers was called for holding Paul Cotter at 3:10 of the middle period. On New Jersey’s ensuing power-play, Jack Hughes skated the puck into Seattle’s zone and sent a cross-ice pass to Captain Nico Hischier. At the top of the right face-off circle, Hischier unleashed a missile slapshot that cleanly beat Grubauer to give the Devils a 2-1 lead at 3:33 of the second period. 

Then, at 5:01 of the second, Glass was sent to the box for roughing Berkley Catton. On Seattle’s power-play, Vince Dunn unleashed a shot from the point that Markstrom stopped with his pad. The rebound went straight to Jared McCann, who promptly fired the puck into New Jersey’s net to tie the game 2-2 at 5:06 of the second period. 

The rest of the second period, as well as the entire third period, were played without any goals or penalties, thus necessitating overtime. 

“I think, in the first, we were forcing too many plays,” Hischier explained. “A little bit too many turnovers again in the neutral zone. You see how much of a difference it is when we get through the neutral zone…So, I think we did a little bit too much of that in the first and we cleaned that up in the second and the third.”

New Jersey controlled much of the play in the extra period, allowing just a single shot on goal. However, there was a hairy moment with Markstrom out of position that almost led to a Seattle goal. Lucky for New Jersey, Timo Meier was standing in the crease and prevented the puck from going into the net. 

Then, after a Vince Dunn shot that was turned aside by Markstrom, Luke Hughes corralled the puck and sent it over to his brother, Jack. The older Hughes brother sprung Hischier with an outlet pass that saw New Jersey’s Captain skate in on Grubauer. Hischier got in tight and while Grubauer was falling back, he backhanded the puck under the Seattle netminder’s outstretched arm and into the net to give the Devils a 3-2 victory. (It was Hischier’s second goal of the game)

“I wanted to take it on my forehand,” said Hischier. “But saw pressure coming there too and thought, it’s kind of like instinct, I guess. Last second, I’m trying to go to my backhand ’cause I think he (Grubauer) thinks I’m going on my forehand. It worked out pretty well.”

It’s only a modest two-game winning streak, but it still counts. New Jersey’s next job is to continue to stack up wins as it tries to get back into playoff position. 

“You gotta find ways to win hockey games,” said Hischier. “And it was definitely a different game (from the one against Minnesota). I think Minnesota was trying a little bit more to out-skill us. These guys (Seattle) didn’t give us as much. I mean, their numbers speak for themself. I think they’re very good in defending the rush. They’re not giving up a lot and they’re comfortable in playing tight games. I think, after the first, we reacted well and took our game to another level, in the right direction.”