Game Recap: NJD 3, MTL 0, April 5, 2026

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Game Recap

NJD3

FinalSun, Apr 5, 2026Every game that night

MTL0

NJD beat MTL 3-0, with the chances close: 3.39 expected goals to 2.76. J. Hughes led the way with 2 points (0 G, 2 A). J. Markstrom stopped 18 of 18.

Scoring

	1st	2nd	3rd	T
NJD	1	1	1	3
MTL	0	0	0	0

1st 10:47NJDT. Meier0.33 xG
2nd 18:12NJDC. Glass0.17 xG
3rd 16:35NJDC. BrownEN0.78 xG

Team Stats

NJDMTL

20Shots on goal18

3.39Expected goals2.76

47Shot attempts58

165v5 shots on goal12

0/2Power play0/4

20Hits27

19Blocked shots11

45Penalty minutes11

19Giveaways13

7Takeaways3

Expected goals: the chance each unblocked shot had of going in, by our model, added up.

Expected Goals Over the Game

NJD 3.39 xGMTL 2.76 xGGoal

Each step up is a shot: how likely it was to go in. A team well above the other had the better chances, whatever the score.

Shot Map

NJD20 on goal, 3 scored

MTL18 on goal, 0 scored

GoalSavedMissedBlockedBigger: a better chance

Box Score

NJD Skaters

Player	Pos	G	A	P	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	PIM	TOI	PP TOI
J. Hughes	C	0	2	2	6	1	3	+2	0	21:41	3:41
C. Brown	RW	1	0	1	2	3	1	+1	10	20:57	2:25
T. Meier	RW	1	0	1	1	1	2	+1	0	18:22	1:35
J. Bratt	LW	0	1	1	1	0	0	+1	0	17:16	3:02
C. Glass	C	1	0	1	1	1	0	+1	0	12:05	0:00
N. Hischier	C	0	0	0	3	2	1	+1	0	23:44	3:47
D. Mercer	C	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	0	21:34	0:58
L. Hameenaho	RW	0	0	0	1	0	2	+1	0	10:59	0:13
N. Bjugstad	C	0	0	0	1	1	1	+1	0	9:00	0:00
P. Cotter	LW	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	7:14	0:00
M. McLaughlin	C	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7:03	0:00
B. Halonen	LW	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	5:19	0:00
J. Siegenthaler	D	0	0	0	0	2	4	+1	0	23:41	0:00
L. Hughes	D	0	0	0	0	1	0	+1	4	23:08	3:16
D. Hamilton	D	0	0	0	0	1	0	+1	2	20:51	0:44
S. Nemec	D	0	0	0	1	0	3	+1	0	17:30	0:19
J. Kovacevic	D	0	0	0	1	3	1	+1	10	17:29	0:00
B. Dillon	D	0	0	0	0	2	0	+1	17	14:07	0:00

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
J. Markstrom	18	18	0	1.000	60:00	Win
J. Allen	0	0	0	–	0:00

MTL Skaters

Player	Pos	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	PIM	TOI	PP TOI
J. Slafkovský	LW	2	0	2	-1	0	22:27	5:54
N. Suzuki	C	1	0	0	-1	0	21:42	5:51
C. Caufield	RW	3	0	0	-1	0	20:57	5:44
I. Demidov	RW	1	0	1	-2	0	16:32	5:52
P. Danault	C	0	1	1	0	0	14:12	0:06
J. Evans	C	0	1	0	-1	0	13:59	0:06
Z. Bolduc	RW	0	3	0	0	0	13:54	2:02
O. Kapanen	C	2	1	0	-1	0	13:22	2:01
A. Newhook	C	1	2	0	-1	0	13:13	2:02
J. Veleno	C	2	6	1	-1	0	12:37	0:00
J. Anderson	RW	0	2	0	0	7	11:31	0:06
B. Gallagher	RW	0	1	0	0	0	11:22	1:55
L. Hutson	D	0	0	3	-1	2	24:41	6:00
N. Dobson	D	1	0	1	-3	0	23:39	2:00
M. Matheson	D	2	2	0	-2	0	20:57	0:21
K. Guhle	D	1	0	1	-1	2	17:05	0:00
J. Struble	D	2	4	1	0	0	14:23	0:00
A. Xhekaj	D	0	4	0	0	0	11:58	0:00

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
J. Fowler	19	17	2	.895	57:29	Loss
J. Dobes	0	0	0	–	0:00

Lines at 5-on-5

NJD

Line 1T. Meier15:39D. Mercer15:11N. Hischier14:11

Line 2C. Brown14:14J. Hughes16:20J. Bratt13:17

Line 3N. Bjugstad8:47L. Hameenaho10:33C. Glass8:26

Line 4P. Cotter7:14M. McLaughlin7:03B. Halonen5:19

Pair 1J. Kovacevic15:16L. Hughes17:23

Pair 2D. Hamilton13:55J. Siegenthaler17:10

Pair 3B. Dillon11:28S. Nemec15:59

MTL

Line 1N. Suzuki13:39J. Slafkovský14:19C. Caufield13:06

Line 2P. Danault11:32J. Veleno10:39B. Gallagher9:15

Line 3A. Newhook10:51O. Kapanen11:02I. Demidov9:01

Line 4J. Anderson9:32J. Evans11:38Z. Bolduc11:32

Pair 1M. Matheson16:32N. Dobson16:46

Pair 2L. Hutson15:52J. Struble14:23

Pair 3K. Guhle15:48A. Xhekaj11:58

From the NHL's shift charts: the players on the ice together most at 5-on-5, with each one's own 5-on-5 time.

How We Did

	We projected	It finished
Score	NJD 3.2, MTL 3.4	NJD 3, MTL 0
Total goals	6.6	3
Shots on goal	NJD 29.5, MTL 26.6	NJD 20, MTL 18
Win chance	MTL 53%	NJD won

Players

Player	SOG projected	SOG	Points projected	Points	Goal chance	Goals
NJD J. Hughes	3.8	6	1.18	2	37%	0
NJD T. Meier	3.3	1	0.63	1	30%	1
MTL C. Caufield	3.0	3	0.91	0	37%	0
NJD N. Hischier	2.5	3	0.81	0	31%	0
NJD D. Hamilton	2.4	0	0.48	0	13%	0
MTL J. Slafkovský	2.2	2	0.79	0	27%	0
MTL N. Suzuki	2.1	1	1.02	0	29%	0
NJD J. Bratt	2.1	1	0.87	1	25%	0
NJD L. Hughes	2.1	0	0.52	0	9%	0
MTL N. Dobson	2.0	1	0.58	0	12%	0
NJD D. Mercer	1.9	1	0.48	0	23%	0
NJD C. Brown	1.9	2	0.61	1	21%	1
MTL I. Demidov	1.6	1	0.77	0	20%	0
MTL L. Hutson	1.5	0	0.95	0	11%	0
MTL O. Kapanen	1.5	2	0.43	0	20%	0
MTL M. Matheson	1.5	2	0.44	0	9%	0
MTL A. Newhook	1.4	1	0.43	0	19%	0
MTL Z. Bolduc	1.4	0	0.40	0	18%	0
NJD C. Glass	1.3	1	0.31	1	14%	1
NJD S. Nemec	1.3	1	0.31	0	10%	0
NJD L. Hameenaho	1.3	1	0.26	0	10%	0
MTL B. Gallagher	1.3	0	0.28	0	12%	0
MTL J. Anderson	1.3	0	0.30	0	16%	0
NJD N. Bjugstad	1.2	1	0.21	0	12%	0
MTL J. Evans	1.1	0	0.40	0	14%	0
MTL P. Danault	1.1	0	0.35	0	13%	0
MTL K. Guhle	1.0	1	0.28	0	7%	0
NJD J. Kovacevic	1.0	1	0.21	0	4%	0
MTL J. Veleno	0.8	2	0.17	0	9%	0
NJD M. McLaughlin	0.8	0	0.19	0	12%	0
NJD J. Siegenthaler	0.8	0	0.16	0	3%	0
NJD B. Dillon	0.6	0	0.18	0	4%	0
MTL A. Xhekaj	0.6	0	0.08	0	3%	0
NJD P. Cotter	0.6	0	0.15	0	9%	0
NJD B. Halonen	0.6	1	0.11	0	8%	0
MTL J. Struble	0.5	2	0.21	0	4%	0

Shots on goal: 21 of 36 players within one of their projection; they took 0.5 fewer than projected on average.

Our projections as they stood at puck drop. One game says little about a model; Model Notes has how it tests over thousands.