Adam Henrique scores first hat trick as Ducks defeat Devils

Adam Henrique scores his first hat trick as Ducks end losing streak

Ducks center Adam Henrique reacts after scoring a hat trick on an empty-net goal against the New Jersey Devils.

By Allan Kreda

Associated Press

Dec. 17, 2023 Updated 8:21 PM PT

NEWARK, N.J. — Adam Henrique scored three goals for his first career hat trick and the Ducks beat the New Jersey Devils 5-1 Sunday night to end a five-game losing streak.

Alex Killorn had a goal and two assists, Troy Terry had a goal and an assist, and defensemen Pavel Mintyukov and Cam Fowler each had two assists for the Ducks, who were 1-13-0 since their last regulation win on Nov. 14.

“This was a big for us. They came out hard in the first period and I think we did a good job after that,’’ Henrique said. ”We put pressure on them and got our special teams going four on four.”

John Gibson had 18 saves through two periods and Lukas Dostal stopped all 10 shots he faced in the third. The Ducks announced Gibson was pulled because he was feeling “under the weather.”

Michael McLeod scored for New Jersey, and Akira Schmid finished with 22 saves. The Devils had won two straight and five of six.

“I didn’t think our execution was very good,’’ Devils coach Lindy Ruff said. ”We fanned on some good opportunities ... and then just a couple of bonehead defensive plays. We fell down, we missed plays. It wasn’t a good performance.”

After New Jersey dominated the first period by outshooting the Ducks 14-4, Henrique managed to guide a loose puck past Schmid at 1:46 of the second on the power play.

The 33-year-old Henrique, who spent parts of eight seasons with the Devils before being traded to the Ducks in November 2017, made it 2-0 with 8:43 left in the middle period.

McLeod finally solved Gibson with 44 seconds left in the second with his sixth of the season.

“Our guys really do a good job putting it in the net most nights, but they didn’t fall tonight,’’ McLeod said. ”We had some good looks and I think we were getting a little frustrated later in the game.”

Killorn scored his fourth at 4:14 of the third before Terry got his seventh at 9:56 to increase the lead to 4-1.

Henrique completed his hat trick with a short-handed empty-net goal with 5:48 left. It was his ninth goal of the season. The hat trick was clinched at the same end of the Prudential Center rink where Henrique scored an overtime winner against Henrik Lundqvist as the Devils eliminated the Rangers in the 2012 Eastern Conference finals.

“It’s special. This place was special for me for a long time. A lot of great memories here,’’ Henrique said. “I always enjoy seeing everybody and playing in this building. It is kind of funny that the first one was here.”

The Ducks were playing their third straight game in the New York area, coming off a 4-3 loss at the New York Islanders on Wednesday night in the opener of their four-game trip and a 5-1 defeat at the Rangers on Friday.

“We played well. We’re trying to coach our players to believe that ultimately if you play the right way and generate chances, you’re probably going to win more games that you lose,″ Ducks coach Greg Cronin said. ”We were able to get some quality chances and get some goals out of them.”

The injury-depleted Ducks continued to be without four key players: forwards Trevor Zegras, Mason McTavish and Isac Lundestrom, and defenseman Jamie Drysdale.

New Jersey recalled goaltender Nico Daws from Utica of the AHL to back up Schmid. Vitek Vanecek did not dress because he wasn’t feeling well before the game.

Up next for the Ducks: at Detroit on Monday night to finish a four-game trip.