Devils Continue Hot Start With 5-3 Win Over Oilers

Published: Saturday, October 18, 2025

by Chris Heite

NEWARK, N.J. - On a beautiful afternoon in Newark, the New Jersey Devils (4-1-0) defeated the Edmonton Oilers (2-2-1) by a score of 5-3 in commanding fashion. 

The Devils were coming off one of their hottest starts in years, but seemingly cooled off for the first period. 

The period started off rather slow, with a stagnant 0-0 first period. The Oilers led in shots with nine, while the Devils only had four. At the beginning of this highly contested matchup, Edmonton certainly dominated in possession.

While both teams had power plays, there was nothing to show for it in the goal department after one period of play. 

Yet, momentum shifted in the second, with the scoreless tie being broken. New Jersey broke through with a great goal from star player, Jack Hughes. While it was only his second goal in the young season, it proved to be an important turning point in the middle stages of the game. 

Hughes struggled with puck possession in the first, but forgot about any mistakes with his impactful goal. That was not the only goal in the period however, with Jesper Bratt breaking through on a power play towards the end of the period.

Bratt’s goal came just seconds into a New Jersey power play, and capped off a solid period for the Devils. 

The Oilers would not stay silent though, with Ryan Nugent-Hopkins cutting the lead to one in the end stages of the second. It was an almost perfect period for the Devils, but Edmonton had other plans.
 
Pushing to the third, the first half of the period proved to be back and forth, with no pucks in net. However, that changed on an Oilers power play. 

The Devils stormed back with a shorthanded goal from Connor Brown, pushing the lead to 3-1. On that same power play, New Jersey had two more high-danger shorthanded shots on net.

The momentum all but fell into the hands of the Devils, with Hughes scoring his second goal of the day to extend the lead to 4-1. 

Hughes was not the only multi goal scorer in the game however, with Nugent-Hopkins getting a second goal in the late stages of the 3rd to cut the lead to 4-2. 

Dawson Mercer then extended the lead to 5-2 off an empty net goal, sealing another Devils victory. 

The Oilers would get one more goal to make it 5-3, off the stick of former Devil Curtis Lazar, but it did not matter much as it came with 1.7 seconds remaining.

An all-around win for the Devils came through the exceptional play from New Jersey and the lack of production from Edmonton. It’s important to note Connor McDavid was shut down by the solid Devils defense, which played a big part in the victory.

The Devils move to 4-1-0 on the season, and continue their historic start. They look to keep it going when they face the Maple Leafs this Tuesday in Toronto. 

Chris Heite can be reached at christopher.heite@student.shu.edu.

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