The New Jersey Devils had a great win on Saturday when they took on the Ottawa Senators, winning 4-3, before returning to the Prudential Center the next day to host the Nashville Predators. Unfortunately, after scoring the first goal to take an early lead and then coming back to break a 1-1 tie, New Jersey lost in the shootout. Ryan O’Reilly scored the game-winning goal for the 3-2 victory, gaining in the West wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Devils will be taking on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday before heading out to the Scotiabank Arena to play the Maple Leafs again on Thursday.
Predators lineup against the Devils:
Forsberg – O’Reilly – Nyquist
Zucker – Sissons – Beauvillier
Jankowski – Novak – Evangelista
Smith – McCarron – Sherwood
Josi – McDonagh
Stastney – Schenn
Lauzon – Carrier
Saros
Lankinen
Devils lineup against the Predators:
Meier – Hischier – Mercer
Hughes – Haula – Bratt
Palat – Nosek – Holtz
Bowers – Tierney – Halonen
Hughes – DeSimone
Bahl – Smith
Siegenthaler – Nemec
Kahkonen
Allen
Jack Hughes struck early into the first period at 18:11 with his 27th goal of the season to give the Devils a 1-0 lead. Hughes scored from the right face-off circle, firing a wrist shot past Juuse Saros. Shortly after a face-off win by Ryan O’Reilly, Roman Josi tied it 1-1 at 11:21 when he ripped a slap shot from the point for his 21st of the season. Following the goal, Kaapo Kahkonen left the game, not making a return to the bench to start the second period.
For the remainder of the first period, and all through the middle frame, the Predators and Devils were stuck in a 1-1 tie. However, in the third, New Jersey took back the lead only to get caught in another tie.
Not much time into the third, at 17:49, Chris Tierney had put the Devils back on top 2-1 with his fourth goal of the season and the 80th of his NHL career. He received a pass from Tomas Nosek, who intercepted a play when Juuse Saros left the puck at the right post for Ryan McDonagh. At 7:15 on the power play, Luke Evangelista put a wrister past Jake Allen from the bottom of the left circle to tie it 2-2. This had been Evangelista’s 16th goal of the season and his 23rd NHL career goal.
Neither team had any luck in overtime to close it out, and headed into the shootout to determine the game-winner… Ryan O’Reilly scored the only goal in the second round for the 3-2 final. Juuse Saros was able to deny Timo Meier, Jesper Bratt, and Jack Hughes.
Luke Hughes on Jake Allen, the pushback from Nashville and matching it, and his rookie season: “Jake’s been great for us ever since he came here. That’s just another night of him showing that, and he’s been a real stud for us,” – “They came out really hard in the second and third. I think our defensive coverage was good, but just a tough loss. The guys fought really hard – I got a lot of skilled players around me that help with that. For me, it’s just gotten better every day and I feel more comfortable every game… 78 games in, and hopefully play 82 – I think I’ve developed really well this year and I’ve liked my game all year. So, I just got to keep going and keep getting better every day.”
Jake Allen on the second period: “That’s a good hockey team over there. They work. They don’t have the most overly skilled lineup, but everyone contributes every night and that’s why they’re in the playoff hunt right now. Good teams are going to do that, they’re going to have momentum. It’s just the way you can manage momentum and get through it, then try to create your own. So, we did that.”
Notes:
– Before leaving in the first period due to injury, Kaapo Kahkonen allowed one goal on five shots… Jake Allen made a total of 29 saves in relief for New Jersey.
– The Devils are five points behind the Detroit Red Wings for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference.
– Luke Hughes recorded the primary assist on Jack Hughes’ game-opening goal. He currently has 45 points (nine goals, 36 assists) this season, which is the second-most by a rookie defenseman in Devils/Colorado Rockies/Kansas City Scouts history.
Hughes had also extended his point streak to seven games (one goal, six assists)
– John Marino had been absent in two straight games due to an upper-body injury.
– Shane Bowers had been recalled from Utica earlier on Sunday, replacing injured Curtis Lazar in the lineup. He began on the fourth line with both Chris Tierney and Brian Halonen. However, he had been bumped up to play with Ondrej Palat and Tomas Nosek, and Alexander Holtz had taken Bowers’ original spot in the lineup on the fourth line.
Bowers had just about over 12 minutes of ice time.
– Prior to the game, Travis Green had shared that Curtis Lazar is most likely out for the remainder of the regular season with the upper-body injury he suffered against the Ottawa Senators Saturday night. He left midway through the second period after playing nine shifts against the Senators and did not return.
– Juuse Saros made 23 saves for Nashville before the three shootout attempts he stopped, and both Filip Forsberg and Ryan O’Reilly recorded two assists.
– The Nashville Predators moved into the first wild card in the Western Conference, two points ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights.
ITR 31: Let Them Fight – Inside The Rink
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