EDMONTON - When the New Jersey Devils get a lead, they keep the lead.
Rookie Arseny Gritsyuk and Cody Glass each had a goal and an assist as the Devils held on to edge the Edmonton Oilers 2-1 on Tuesday.
The Devils (26-22-2) improved to 17-0-0 when leading after 40 minutes and have won four of their last five outings, including a 2-1 overtime victory over the host Calgary Flames on Monday.
鈥淚t feels good, especially on a back-to-back going against the Oilers,鈥 Glass said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a tough task, but I felt like we did a really good job in the first and second period. We knew the storm was going to be coming, we knew (Connor) McDavid was going to be out there for the majority of the period, so it was all about deflecting him to the outside and (goalie Jake Allen) maybe had his best period of the year, so it was awesome."
Allen survived a barrage in the third as Edmonton outshot his crew 13-3 and he recorded 22 saves overall to earn the win in net for New Jersey.
鈥淗e was outstanding,鈥 said Devils coach Sheldon Keefe. 鈥淵ou know Edmonton was going to have a surge. I thought we managed that in the first and second period probably as close to perfect as we could have. We knew they were going to have a push and we needed to get some saves and he was outstanding.
鈥淛ake was great. Jake was outstanding when he played in here last year, that鈥檚 why we wanted to get him back in. He clearly feels good when he plays in this building. Credit to him to stay with it and stay focused and be ready when called upon to seal the game in the third.鈥
Allen said it wasn't surprising to see star forward McDavid and the Oilers put together a desperate fight to the finish.
鈥淚 think we all knew in the second intermission that they were going to have a push,鈥 Allen said. 鈥淲e knew their best player was going to play the majority of that period and it seemed like he did. We just had to find a way to get through it.
"They鈥檙e going to get their looks, that鈥檚 the reality of it, they鈥檙e a good team, they鈥檙e really good players over there, so we have to understand they鈥檙e going to have momentum, it鈥檚 just how do we get through that momentum and I thought the guys did a great job.
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to make mistakes, but I think for the most part we did a really good job and until that third period, we didn鈥檛 give them a whole lot. I鈥檓 proud of the group.鈥
McDavid came into the game with at least one point in all 17 of his career games against the Devils (7G, 24A), which stood as the second-longest active point streak by a player against a single opponent. However, he was held pointless on the night and the streak came to an end.
Matthew Savoie replied for the Oilers (25-18-8) who had a two-game winning streak halted, the ninth time this season they have failed to extend a winning streak to three games.
鈥淭he fact that we haven鈥檛 been able to get a little run, we want to obviously get some momentum and win some games in a row, that鈥檚 how you climb up the standings,鈥 said Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch.
鈥淭onight, in the first two periods we didn鈥檛 show up. I don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 a pattern or anything to say why we鈥檙e doing that, but it definitely is frustrating.鈥
This report by 好色tvwas first published Jan. 21, 2026.
