Game Recap: NJD 5, VAN 4, January 23, 2026

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Game Recap

NJD5

FinalFri, Jan 23, 2026Every game that night

VAN4

NJD beat VAN 5-4, with the chances close: 3.88 expected goals to 3.46. C. Glass led the way with 3 points (2 G, 1 A). J. Markstrom stopped 21 of 25.

Scoring

	1st	2nd	3rd	T
NJD	1	3	1	5
VAN	0	3	1	4

1st 1:41NJDL. Hameenaho0.28 xG
2nd 2:34NJDN. HischierPP0.15 xG
2nd 3:14NJDC. Glass0.12 xG
2nd 9:47VANL. Karlsson0.34 xG
2nd 11:59VANT. BluegerSH0.24 xG
2nd 15:12NJDC. BrownPP0.22 xG
2nd 18:12VANZ. Buium0.38 xG
3rd 11:03NJDC. Glass0.22 xG
3rd 18:48VANB. Boeser0.30 xG

Team Stats

NJDVAN

24Shots on goal25

3.88Expected goals3.46

55Shot attempts53

205v5 shots on goal20

2/3Power play0/2

17Hits19

15Blocked shots17

4Penalty minutes6

11Giveaways18

2Takeaways5

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

Expected Goals Over the Game

NJD 3.88 xGVAN 3.46 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

NJD24 on goal, 5 scored

VAN25 on goal, 4 scored

GoalSavedMissedBlockedBigger: a better chance

Box Score

NJD Skaters

Player	Pos	G	A	P	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	PIM	TOI	PP TOI
C. Glass	C	2	1	3	4	0	2	+1	0	12:28	0:00
N. Hischier	C	1	1	2	3	1	1	-1	0	19:57	3:10
L. Hameenaho	RW	1	1	2	3	2	1	+2	0	10:03	0:00
J. Hughes	C	0	1	1	3	0	1	-1	0	18:54	2:26
C. Brown	RW	1	0	1	1	0	1	-2	0	18:37	3:17
T. Meier	RW	0	1	1	1	0	0	+1	0	17:02	1:51
A. Gritsyuk	RW	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	13:14	1:54
D. Mercer	C	0	0	0	0	1	1	-1	0	19:03	1:10
J. Bratt	LW	0	0	0	1	1	0	-1	2	15:26	2:27
O. Palat	LW	0	0	0	1	2	0	0	0	13:27	0:00
E. Dadonov	LW	0	0	0	0	0	1	-1	2	11:32	1:05
P. Cotter	LW	0	0	0	1	3	1	-1	0	10:12	0:00
J. Siegenthaler	D	0	1	1	2	0	1	+1	0	22:46	0:00
D. Hamilton	D	0	1	1	1	0	1	-1	0	21:22	2:59
J. Kovacevic	D	0	1	1	1	5	0	-1	0	14:28	0:00
S. Nemec	D	0	1	1	2	0	1	0	0	13:10	1:21
B. Pesce	D	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	23:56	0:00
B. Dillon	D	0	0	0	0	2	2	0	0	20:23	0:00

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
J. Markstrom	25	21	4	.840	60:00	Win
J. Allen	0	0	0	–	0:00

VAN Skaters

Player	Pos	G	A	P	SOG	HIT	BLK	+/-	PIM	TOI	PP TOI
L. Karlsson	C	1	1	2	4	0	1	+2	0	14:38	2:09
B. Boeser	RW	1	0	1	2	0	0	-1	0	20:26	2:33
D. O'Connor	LW	0	1	1	2	0	0	0	0	18:11	0:00
T. Blueger	C	1	0	1	2	3	0	-1	0	14:25	0:05
E. Pettersson	C	0	1	1	0	0	2	+1	0	14:18	2:27
N. Hoglander	LW	0	1	1	1	1	0	+2	0	12:25	0:00
F. Chytil	C	0	0	0	2	1	0	0	0	18:29	1:23
E. Kane	LW	0	0	0	1	1	1	+1	0	15:33	1:51
C. Garland	RW	0	0	0	0	0	0	-1	4	15:29	1:34
J. DeBrusk	LW	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	12:44	2:11
L. Ohgren	LW	0	0	0	1	0	0	-1	0	12:33	0:14
D. Kampf	C	0	0	0	0	0	0	+1	0	12:32	0:00
Z. Buium	D	1	0	1	3	0	0	+2	0	23:59	2:36
M. Pettersson	D	0	1	1	3	2	2	0	0	17:34	0:00
T. Willander	D	0	1	1	0	0	2	+1	2	13:15	1:24
F. Hronek	D	0	0	0	1	3	2	+1	0	27:27	1:18
T. Myers	D	0	0	0	3	2	3	-1	0	19:18	0:15
E. Pettersson	D	0	0	0	0	5	4	-1	0	16:08	0:00

Goalie	SA	SV	GA	SV%	TOI
K. Lankinen	24	19	5	.792	56:16	Loss
J. Patera	0	0	0	–	0:00

Lines at 5-on-5

NJD

Line 1J. Hughes15:04T. Meier13:54J. Bratt11:56

Line 2N. Hischier12:46D. Mercer13:47O. Palat12:34

Line 3C. Glass10:17A. Gritsyuk10:26L. Hameenaho9:44

Line 4C. Brown12:21P. Cotter10:12E. Dadonov10:27

Pair 1B. Pesce19:19J. Siegenthaler19:12

Pair 2B. Dillon16:43D. Hamilton15:27

Pair 3J. Kovacevic13:42S. Nemec11:49

VAN

Line 1F. Chytil14:40B. Boeser14:01D. O'Connor14:11

Line 2T. Blueger12:30L. Ohgren11:48C. Garland12:47

Line 3E. Kane12:23E. Pettersson10:21J. DeBrusk9:55

Line 4N. Hoglander11:07L. Karlsson9:28D. Kampf10:30

Pair 1E. Pettersson15:10F. Hronek21:16

Pair 2T. Myers15:44Z. Buium18:06

Pair 3M. Pettersson14:26T. Willander11:17

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.

Storylines That Played Out

Old teamPaul Cotter VAN Faces NJD, his team until Apr 20261 SOG

As Tonight had them before puck drop, with what each player did.

How We Did

	We projected	It finished
Score	NJD 3.3, VAN 3.2	NJD 5, VAN 4
Total goals	6.4	9
Shots on goal	NJD 29.4, VAN 27.5	NJD 24, VAN 25
Win chance	NJD 51%	NJD won

Players

Player	SOG projected	SOG	Points projected	Points	Goal chance	Goals
NJD J. Hughes	3.6	3	1.13	1	35%	0
NJD T. Meier	3.0	1	0.65	1	28%	0
NJD D. Hamilton	2.5	1	0.55	1	15%	0
NJD N. Hischier	2.4	3	0.87	2	30%	1
VAN J. DeBrusk	2.3	0	0.57	0	27%	0
VAN E. Kane	2.2	1	0.49	0	24%	0
VAN F. Chytil	2.2	2	0.45	0	20%	0
NJD J. Bratt	2.1	1	0.87	0	23%	0
NJD A. Gritsyuk	2.0	0	0.44	1	16%	0
VAN B. Boeser	2.0	2	0.66	1	28%	1
VAN E. Pettersson	1.9	0	0.80	1	29%	0
VAN C. Garland	1.8	0	0.52	0	20%	0
NJD D. Mercer	1.8	0	0.53	0	23%	0
VAN L. Karlsson	1.6	4	0.50	2	19%	1
NJD C. Glass	1.6	4	0.39	3	15%	2
VAN L. Ohgren	1.6	1	0.23	0	12%	0
NJD S. Nemec	1.5	2	0.42	1	12%	0
VAN D. O'Connor	1.5	2	0.35	1	16%	0
VAN F. Hronek	1.4	1	0.51	0	7%	0
NJD C. Brown	1.4	1	0.42	1	15%	1
NJD B. Pesce	1.4	0	0.27	0	6%	0
VAN T. Blueger	1.3	2	0.35	1	11%	1
VAN T. Myers	1.3	3	0.26	0	4%	0
VAN T. Willander	1.1	0	0.39	1	6%	0
VAN N. Hoglander	1.1	1	0.31	1	14%	0
VAN D. Kampf	1.0	0	0.28	0	11%	0
NJD O. Palat	1.0	1	0.33	0	14%	0
VAN M. Pettersson	1.0	3	0.32	1	4%	0
NJD E. Dadonov	1.0	0	0.33	0	13%	0
NJD J. Siegenthaler	1.0	2	0.18	1	4%	0
VAN Z. Buium	0.9	3	0.33	1	5%	1
NJD J. Kovacevic	0.8	1	0.19	1	4%	0
NJD P. Cotter	0.8	1	0.21	0	11%	0
NJD B. Dillon	0.8	0	0.24	0	5%	0
VAN E. Pettersson	0.6	0	0.17	0	3%	0

Shots on goal: 17 of 35 players within one of their projection; they took 0.3 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.