New Jersey had a relieving two-game win streak after so many ups and downs lately for the team. The Devils defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-2 and the Winnipeg Jets 4-1 following two losses on the road. In hopes of a three-game win streak at home before heading out on the road for three games, the Devils took a 5-2 loss when they hosted the Ottawa Senators on Saturday, March 23rd. The Senators put an end to their three-game skid, surging past the Devils for a big win.
Senators lineup against the Devils:
Tkachuk - Pinto - Batherson
Kelly - Stutzle - Giroux
Crookshank - Greig - Joseph
Katchouk - Kastelic - Kubalik
Sanderson - Zub
Chabot - Brannstrom
Chychrun - Hamonic
Korpisalo
Forsberg
Devils lineup against the Senators:
Meier - Hischier - Bratt
Hughes - Haula - Holtz
Palat - Nosek - Mercer
MacDermid - Tierney - Lazar
Bahl - Marino
Hughes - DeSimone
Smith - Nemec
Allen
Kahkonen
Mathieu Joseph struck early at 15:04 of the first period for his 11th goal of the season to give Ottawa the 1-0 lead. He dominated a turnover at the Senator's blue line and scored with a snap shot short-handed that went in off Jake Allen's pad on a breakaway.
Putting New Jersey on the board to tie it 1-1 just 23 seconds into the middle frame - Jesper Bratt scored, ending his 11-game goal drought with his 23rd of the season on a breakaway. Only 36 seconds later, Tomas Nosek gave the Devils a 2-1 lead to break the tie from the left face-off circle with a snap shot. At 15:54, Ridly Greig tied it 2-2 on a wrister at the slot, and Angus Crookshank gave the lead back to Ottawa from the right circle with a one-timer. Thomas Chabot recorded his eighth goal of the season to push it to 4-2 after taking a pass from Brady Tkachuk and scored with a snap shot at the left post.
Drake Batherson went for the 5-2 final at 9:45 of the third when he went top-shelf with a backhanded shot from the slot. It was his 24th goal of the season.
Jesper Bratt on what changed after the second period: "We obviously got lucky on a breakaway and then we kind of stuck with it. We did, a little bit, play some solid hockey at the beginning of the second, and then started trying out stuff and we started going east to west instead of north, south and we got away from our game a little bit."
Tomas Nosek on the loss against the Ottawa Senators: "We bounced back at the start of the second, then suddenly we just stopped executing and we were not good enough - a lot of bad plays, bad passes, and a lot of mistakes... We need to dig deep, and everybody needs to play better tomorrow."
Notes:
- Jake Allen made a total of 20 saves for New Jersey in his fourth straight start.
- The two Devils' goals by Jesper Bratt and Tomas Nosek in the opening 59 seconds of the second period were marked as the fifth-fastest to start a period in franchise history.
- John Marino returned to the lineup after missing two games with an upper-body injury, having 20:44 of ice time.
- Jack Hughes will be playing his 300th NHL career game on Sunday, March 24th when the Devils play the New York Islanders.
- Thomas Chabot and Mathieu Joseph both had a goal and an assist, and Brady Tkachuk recorded two assists. Joonas Korpisalo made 18 saves for Ottawa.
- This had been the fifth time this season that Ottawa scored five goals on the road... they scored more goals as the visitor just once, 6-3 vs. Toronto Maple Leafs on November 8th.
*All photos used by the New Jersey Devils used with permission*
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