New Jersey had been struggling with a three-game losing streak after their huge 6-3 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 26th. However, the Devils were able to hold off the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre on Saturday, April 6th for a strong 4-3 victory. The Senators only began to score after the Devils already had a 3-0 lead, and weren't able to get any more past Jake Allen for a chance to secure a win. On Sunday, the Devils will host the Nashville Predators to hopefully take two points at home before they host the Maple Leafs, whom they had defeated previously in Toronto.
Devils lineup against the Senators:
Meier - Hischier - Mercer
Hughes - Haula - Bratt
Palat - Nosek - Holtz
MacDermid - Tierney - Lazar
Hughes - DeSimone
Bahl - Smith
Siegenthaler - Nemec
Allen
Senators lineup against the Devils:
Tkachuk - Greig - Giroux
Kubalik - Pinto - Batherson
Katchouk - Joseph - Kelly
Imama - Kastelic - Smejkai
Sanderson - Zub
Chabot - Brannstrom
Chychrun - Bernard-Docker
Forsberg
Korpisalo
To open the scoring early into the first period at 16:10 - Erik Haula put in his 15th goal of the season off a seam pass from Jack Hughes on the rush. He had beaten Anton Forsberg with a swift wrist shot blocker side. This had been Haula's first goal in 11 games, finally ending the goal drought. Ondrej Palat went for the 2-0 lead for New Jersey at 7:24 when he tipped in a point shot by Luke Hughes. Hughes' assist was his 10th in the past nine games. At 3:26 of the opening frame, Brendan Smith increased the lead to 3-0 with his fifth goal of the season and his second straight game with a goal when he put a slap shot past Forsberg from the point.
The Senators replaced Anton Forsberg after the third goal was allowed. Joonas Korpisalo had been in the net for the remainder of the game.
Jake Sanderson scored just 33 seconds into the middle frame to cut it to 3-1 on a power play when he scored off a wrister from the point. At 8:56, Nico Hischier responded with his 26th goal of the season to make it 4-1 when he scored off Jesper Bratt's centering pass. Brendan Smith recorded the secondary assist on the goal, giving him his first three-point game in his 13 NHL seasons.
Claude Giroux cut it to 4-2 early in the third at 16:23 off a one-timer at the top of the left face-off circle on the power play to beat Jake Allen blocker side. This was Giroux's 21st goal of the season. Pulling Ottawa within 4-3 and scoring the last goal of the game at 5:43 - Brady Tkachuk sent a wrist shot to beat Allen glove side on a partial breakaway for his 34th goal of the season.
Nico Hischier on the victory and holding onto the lead in the third period: "They really pushed hard, but it was a pretty win and we got it this time. I think that's all that matters right now. We got one done," - "They definitely had a great push and we tried to hold against it. In the end, it was a little bit ugly, but we got it done, so that was good."
Brendan Smith on the group playing well, holding on, and securing a win: "I think it shows a lot from the guys in the room. Obviously, I'm kind of impressed with them - they never quit and they just kept coming and created for a great game... I thought we did a good job of closing out and Jake closed the door, and we were able to sneak out a win there."
Ondrej Palat on finally being able to get a win through their strong effort: "It feels good. I thought we played good for most of the games... They scored a couple, and we got a little nervous. We're just not that confident with the puck but we held onto the lead, and that's important for us."
Notes:
- Brendan Smith had a three-point game, recording one goal and two assists.
- Jesper Bratt recorded two assists, Jack Hughes recorded his 47th assist of the season, and Jake Allen made a total of 25 saves for New Jersey.
- Luke Hughes currently has six points during a six-game point streak (one goal, five assists).
- The Devils are five points behind the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
- Both Claude Giroux and Jake Sanderson recorded a goal and an assist, and Drake Batherson recorded two assists.
Sanderson has a total of 34 points this season, which is a career-high for him (nine goals, 25 assists).
- Joonas Korpisalo had made a total of 18 saves for Ottawa in relief of Anton Forsberg after having to take his place in the net due to Forsberg allowing three goals on nine shots.
- Brady Tkachuk had set the Ottawa Senators record with 16 hits, which is one behind Zdeno Chara's NHL record on November 3rd, 1999 (17 hits) with the New York Islanders.
*All photos used by the New Jersey Devils used with permission*
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