The New Jersey Devils lost 4-3 to the Buffalo Sabres on Sunday afternoon in the final meeting of the season between the two teams. Early sloppiness and a failure to capitalize on chances, particularly with the man advantage, sunk the Devils, and their comeback fell just short. With the loss, New Jersey dropped to 29-19-6, while Buffalo improved to 21-26-5.
Game Recap
Period One
The Devils had a few good looks in the early going, creating chaos in front of Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen. After a broken stick led to a chance for the Sabres, the Devils went the other way and got a great breakaway chance from Timo Meier, that was saved.
The Sabres broke through first at 8:11 after Tage Thompson jumped on a loose rebound in the slot. Owen Power and Bowen Byram had the assists.
New Jersey got a power play opportunity after Stefan Noesen was hit by Rasmus Dahlin away from the puck. They did not convert.
The Devils pushed after the failed power play, but the Sabres extended their lead at 15:50 with a goal from JJ Peterka. Jesper Bratt couldn’t quite get his stick on the loose puck, and Thompson was able to chip it back to Peterka, who hit an almost empty net. Dennis Gilbert added the secondary assist.
Paul Cotter was hooked, sending the Devils to a second power play late in the first. New Jersey was not good on the power play, and Buffalo scored a shorthanded goal at 19:31 on a breakaway. Ryan McLeod got his 12th of the season with an assist from Alex Tuch.
The Devils were outshot 12-8 in a defensively sloppy first period.
Period Two
New Jersey made a push and drove the net, and it appeared that they scored. After a lengthy review, it was determined that the puck completely crossed the line at 4:38. Cotter got the goal with an assist from Dougie Hamilton.
The Devils pushed again, and Jack Hughes rang a shot off the post. He had another chance seconds later that was smothered by Luukkonen.
New Jersey kept intense pressure, but Hamilton was called for goaltender interference, sending the Devils to the penalty kill.
Jake Allen made some huge saves to keep New Jersey’s deficit to two.
The Devils got another power play, but it was canceled out when Noesen was tagged for holding.
New Jersey killed the abbreviated Sabres power play, but Buffalo cashed in seconds later at 17:25 thanks to Jason Zucker. Thompson and Power had the assists.
The Devils quickly answered with a few great chances, but Luukkonen kept them out.
New Jersey was outshot 13-8 in the frame.
Period Three
To try and spark the team, Sheldon Keefe put Nico Daws in net to begin the period.
Again, Cotter gave the Devils life with a snipe from a sharp angle at 0:18 for his second goal of the game. Brett Pesce had the lone assist.
Noesen caught Thompson off-balance with a big open ice hit that was determined to have head contact, and Noesen was assessed a five-minute major and match penalty.
The Devils kicked off the penalty kill with a shorthand goal of their own at 5:33 courtesy of Jack Hughes, who hit the back of the net on a two-on-one with Jesper Bratt.
New Jersey generated a lot of shorthanded pressure, including a few more odd-man breaks, which put the Sabres out of sorts.
The Devils got a power play after Tuch was called for interference but could not tie the game. New Jersey went right back to the power play when Jack Hughes was brought down behind the Sabres’ net, but the penalty was negated after Meier was called for interference on incidental contact.
Neither team scored during the four-on-four and the Devils killed the rest of the penalty.
New Jersey pulled Daws for the extra attacker with about a minute left in the period. The Devils got a few more shots on Luukkonen but couldn’t force overtime.
The Devils were outshot 34-24 in the loss.
Takeaways
Blanked Power Play
The Devils went 0-5 on the power play and allowed a shorthanded goal, a really poor showing for both units. They had a hard time entering the zone and weren’t particularly successful in winning board battles, especially in the first period.
A lot of those struggles come down to New Jersey’s ineptitude at the face-off dot. With Nico Hischier and Erik Haula absent from the lineup, the Devils don’t have a center that they can rely on to take draws in any zone. It was especially noticeable on the power play, as the Sabres won most draws and easily fired the puck down the ice, killing valuable time and forcing New Jersey to go 200 feet.
The Devils, as a team, were a measly 17-44 and 38.6% at the dot. Justin Dowling was far and away their best faceoff man, going 8-10, but as an AHL call-up, he doesn’t see much, if any, time on special teams. New Jersey’s centers must find a way to have more success at the faceoff dot to put themselves in a better position to gain puck possession.
Intelligence and Purpose
The Devils were way too loose in the first period, which ultimately cost them. While they generated some good chances in their favor, they also gave up numerous Grade-A opportunities and hung Allen out to dry.
“We just don’t play with enough intelligence or purpose defensively,” Keefe said.
The Devils got into gear in the second and especially the third period, which was a much better showing for the team. New Jersey was physical and made a point to knock Buffalo’s best players off the puck. It was no surprise that the Sabres were barely hanging onto their lead by the end of the game because the Devils began using their added size and grit to win battles, get to the dirty areas, and end plays going the other way.
Had the Devils got to that part of their game earlier, the game would have looked much different.
Up Next
The Devils look to get back in the win column on Tuesday night when they take on the Pittsburgh Penguins at PPG Paints Arena.
The Penguins sit seventh in the Metropolitan Division with a 22-24-8 record and a 4-6-2 record in their last ten games.
This is the second of four meetings this season between the Devils and Penguins. New Jersey posted a 3-0 shutout in the first contest, on December 21.
If the Devils want to right the ship, they need to come up with a better 60-minute effort and capitalize against another team well below them in the standings.
Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. EST on MSGSN2 and SN-PIT.
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