DETROIT — The Red Wings returned to the business of playing hockey Wednesday, after days of roster speculation, but the result wasn't what they were looking for.
New Jersey scored two second-period power-play goals, sparking the Devils to a convincing 5-1 victory over the Red Wings.
Devils defenseman Dougie Hamilton scored the first power-play goal, then had his shot deflected by Nico Hischier on the second goal.
Michael McLeod, Alexander Holtz and Jack Hughes added third-period goals, and Devils goalie Vitek Vanecek made the lead stand up with 32 saves.
Lucas Raymond scored his 10th goal at 18 minutes of the third period, depriving Vanecek a shutout. Ville Husso stopped 21 shots for the Wings
The Wings (16-13-7) have only won three of their last 11 games (3-6-2), and are gradually losing ground in the Eastern Conference playoff chase.
If they are to get back in the hunt, they will do so without forward Jakub Vrana and goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic for the near future. Both were assigned to minor league affiliate Grand Rapids Wednesday on conditioning stints and were in the Griffins lineup Wednesday at Van Andel Arena.
Vrana returned to Grand Rapids (he played three games last week there) after clearing waivers Wednesday. Vrana's immediate future with the Wings appears uncertain.
Losing Vrana certainly hurts the offensive potential on this roster, which has struggled at times this season to produce enough goals. The Wings did get Robby Fabbri back in the lineup Wednesday, making his season debut following knee surgery last spring.
Tyler Bertuzzi (hand) is also expected to return within the next two weeks, which could offset not having Vrana in the lineup.
"You hope so," said coach Derek Lalonde after Wednesday's morning skate. "Obviously we're scoring in this little win streak (before Wednesday's loss). We're not built like some of the other offensive top-end teams in the league. We're fine with that. We're going to win with what we keep out of our net.
"We're 16-12-7 (before Wednesday) and we look at those wins and losses and they all look like that. The games we won it was about us keeping it out of our net."
Fabbri was on a line with Pius Suter and Oskar Sundqvist and skated well while playing 13:48, with two shots and a plus-two plus-minus rating.
Getting Fabbri's versatility and offensive ability should be a benefit.
"We're excited about getting him back in a lot of ways," Lalonde said. "Power play is one of them, even the five-on-five play, he plays with some jam. He's a proven player in this league, part of our leadership group inside the room too."
"(Watching) Fabbri in practice, from watching some video back, he can complement our lineup anywhere."
The Devils (24-11-3) took a 1-0 lead on Hamilton's ninth goal, just after the Wings failed on a power-play attempt.
The Devils had much better luck, and did it quickly, as right after a Hischier face-off win, the puck got to Hamilton at the point who whistled a shot past Husso at 9 minutes, 17 seconds of the second period.
New Jersey made it 2-0 with Hamilton and Hischier prominent again on the power play.
Hamilton was on the point again and snapped a shot that Hischier deflected playing net-front, leaving Husso with no chance, Hischier's 17th goal at 16:20.
New Jersey quickly squashed hopes early in the third period, as McLeod scored his fourth goal at 1:51. Husso made a stop on a driving Holtz but took himself out of position, leaving McLeod with an empty net to shoot into.
Holtz then made it 4-0, just two seconds after a Devils power play expired, with his third goal at 6:40, blasting a shot past Husso from atop the hashmarks.
Hughes ended the scoring with his 22nd goal, banking a shot off Husso at 13:59 of the third period.
