The Devils earned it — the game and the expected-goals battle both.
J. Allen, not the Devils' dominance, won this game. The goalie saved 3.05 goals above expected in a 4-1 victory over Anaheim, bailing out a team that underperformed its own expected goals by 1.39. The Ducks, meanwhile, left 3.05 goals on the ice — a damning indictment of their finish despite generating quality opportunities.
New Jersey's 57–43 expected-goals edge (5.39–4.05) looked comfortable on paper. In practice, Allen had to work. The Devils held just 42% of shot attempts (22–31), a clip that suggests Anaheim fought harder for possession than the final score implies. But New Jersey's chances carried more weight — 0.088 expected goals per shot versus Anaheim's 0.065. Quantity favored the Ducks. Quality did not.
High-danger chances told the same story: 9–5 to New Jersey. Anaheim, for all its pressure, converted zero of its five. L. Dostal stopped 2.4 goals above expected — a strong performance that would usually carry a team to at least a point. But the Devils were lethal: 3 goals on 28 rush chances, a conversion rate that punished Anaheim's zone entries.
New Jersey's depth showed. C. White and O. Palat each posted two assists, as did J. Lammikko. Connor Brown's backhander from the doorstep (third period, 18:00) embodied the game: a high-danger chance converted when it mattered.
Dostal stole as much as Allen did, statistically. But Allen's 0.968 save percentage and +3.05 mark above expected didn't just match his team's output; it exceeded it. The Devils won because they were better, yes. They won decisively because their goalie was better still.
