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Devils Down Senators in Shootout, 4-3

We are back from the NHL All-Star break and the Devils’ bye week and what a busy night of hockey we have for you! In the first game, the Devils faced off with the Ottawa Senators up in Canada’s national capital. The Devils won this one 4-3 in a shootout.

It was the first Devils game in nine days, since they faced off with Columbus on January 18. The bye week/All-Star break was good for injured Devils. Kyle Palmieri was activated off of injured reserve and played tonight, scoring a goal while playing on the top line with Jesper Bratt and Nico Hischier. Louis Domingue was also off of IR and backed up starter Mackenzie Blackwood. Cory Schneider was reassigned to Binghamton.

Also spending some time in Binghamton is Jesper Boqvist, who was sent down during the break and will remain there for the time being, getting a little more seasoning with a good amount of playing time.

Connor Carrick was the lone Devils scratch as Mirco Mueller slotted back in on defense.

The starting goalie matchup saw the aforementioned Blackwood made 35 saves on 38 Ottawa shots for a .921 save percentage. For the Sens, Marcus Hogberg stopped 50 of an astounding, and season high, 53 Devils shots for a .943 save percentage. In the shootout, Blackwood stopped two shots and Hogberg stopped neither of the two shooters he faced.

In a nice gesture, the Senators payed tribute to Kobe Bryant with a moment of silence pregame. The Sens were wearing their heritage jerseys, which is always a nice look. The Senators also had a nine-game winless streak that they snapped just prior to the break with a win over Calgary.

And this one looked bleak for them early one when Damon Severson scored 8:23 into the game on the power play. Connor Brown of Ottawa had gone off for a high sticking double minor, clipping Sami Vatanen. The Devils were held off of the scoresheet during the first two minutes, but during the second half of the power play, Severson took a shot from the point that hit the post and was kicked in by Hogberg when he spun around to locate the puck. Miles Wood served as a screen in front and, though he did not get an assist, did play a major part in the goal. Bratt and Nikita Gusev had the assists.

But the Sens would knot things prior to the end of the first frame. With less than two minutes to go in the first, at 18:42, Tyler Ennis scored on the power play (Mueller was off for a slash at 17:13) when Brady Tkachuk shot and the rebound came right to Ennis cutting back door. Drake Batherson had the secondary assist and the game was tied at one going into the second period.

On the power play, the Devils went 1-for-5 with 11 shots (plus one shorthanded – which came just prior to the Ennis goal). Ottawa was 1-for-2 with three power play shots and two shorthanded shots – both of which they scored on, which we will obviously get to later.

The second period began with PK Subban and Tkachuk, who had been going at it all game in front of the Devils’ net, scrap.

The Devils retook the lead when Andy Greene made a nice takeaway in the Devils’ zone, this led to the Devils getting it up ice and putting some pressure in the Ottawa zone. Kevin Rooney capitalized at 4:28 when he scored on a wraparound. Greene and Mueller had the assists on the goal that made it 2-1.

But if the second period was great for New Jersey, it was about thirty seconds in the third that was nearly their undoing.

At the 8:28 mark, Tkachuk took a high-sticking penalty against Pavel Zacha, putting the Devils on the power play. However, at the 9:06 mark, the Devils gave up a 2-on-1 with Vladislav Namestnikov and JG Pageau skating in. Namestnikov used Pageau as a decoy and elected to shoot, beating Blackwood to make it 2-2 and notching the Sens’ first shorthanded goal of the game. Ron Hainsey had the lone assist.

Less than forty seconds later, at 9:41, Ottawa took the lead when, off a partial 2-on-1, Connor Brown made a nice, thread-the-needle pass to Chris Tierney, who went backhand on Blackwood and scored. Dylan DeMelo had the secondary assist.

So the Devils had given up two shorthanded goals on the very same penalty and seemed on the brink of collapse. They would nail two posts and a crossbar in the period and could not seem to get one by Hogberg.

A scary moment for the Senators when Mark Borowiecki tried to stand Blake Coleman up at the Ottawa blue line and, as he turned his back and both men braced for the hit, Coleman’s stick caught him in the face, knocking his helmet clean off. Borowiecki immediately went to the Sens’ locker room, but returned to the bench a few moments later.

The Devils would finally tie things at the 16:39 mark when Hischier took a shot on Hogberg that rebounded to the stick of Bratt in front of the net. He poked it over to a cutting in Palmieri who put the puck in the empty side of the goal mouth. That made it 3-3 and we would soon be headed for overtime.

The Devils won their last trip to Ottawa in OT with Jack Hughes scoring the winner. This time, the winner would not be decided in the extra session, but there would be plenty of action. Severson was stopped on a breakaway early on and later, Will Butcher was stopped in close on a nice chance set up by Hischier.

But due to excellent goaltending by both Blackwood and Hogberg, we were off to a shootout.

This one would only need two rounds to decide. Anthony Duclair went first for the Sens and was stopped by Blackwood. Gusev was up first for the Devils and he scored off of a nice move. Batherson went for Ottawa to kick off the second round and was stopped by Blackwood. Hughes then buried his chance to give the Devils the shootout victory.

The Devils won 52-percent of the game’s faceoffs with Travis Zajac winning 60-percent of his. The Devils outhit the Sens, 27-23 and had more blocked shots at 29 to the Senators’ 11. The Devils had slightly less giveaways at 13 to Ottawa’s 18.

Individually, Severson led in time on ice with 26:50 (including 3:18 on the power play and 2:19 on the penalty kill). Hischier led the forwards with 22:13 with 5:06 on the power play.

Shots on goal were led by Hughes by a wide margin with eight. John Hayden and Wayne Simmonds led in hits with four each while Severson led in blocked shots with five. Gusev led in takeaways with two.

Next up, the Devils will face old coach John Hynes when the Nashville Predators come to Newark on Thursday. That game is on NBCSN at 7:30 PM and we will have coverage for you right here when it is over. Later tonight/this morning, we should have coverage of the AHL All-Star game for you as well.

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Western Conference Claims Victory in AHL Skills Competition

The AHL All-Star Skills Competition took place tonight in Ontario, California with the Western Conference winning the contest 18-15.

The night began with a moment of silence for Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant, who tragically passed away earlier today in a helicopter crash. He was a big part of the Southern California sports scene and this was a nice gesture from the host Ontario Reign, who are the AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings. Condolences to Kobe’s family in this tough time.

On the television side, the NHL Network was using the TSN feed out of Canada and former Devils goaltender Mike McKenna was providing color commentary for this event.

With McKenna representing Devils of the past in the broadcast booth, Joey Anderson was representing the Devils of the future and the Binghamton Devils in tonight’s festivities.

Up first was the Puck Control Relay. The conference each team in the relay was representing won received a goal for a win. In the first race, Jack Studnicka, Joey Keane and Alex Barre-Boulet represented the East while Lucas Elvenes, Brennan Menell and Chris Wideman went for the West. The East won the first round.

Race number two featured Sebastian Aho (of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, not the one playing the NHL for the Hurricanes), Brogan Rafferty and Paul Carey of the East being bested by Alexandre Carrier, Glenn Gawdin and Kyle Capoblanco of the West.

The final two races were one-on-one with TJ Tynan of the West beating Morgan Frost of the East in the third race and Jeremy Bracco (East) defeating Kale Clague (West) in the fourth.

At the end of the first event, the score was tied at two apiece.

Next up was the Fastest Skater event. This one was won by Alex Formenton of the East who finished with a time of 13.356 to earn a goal for the East. The East’s skaters, which featured Studnicka and Keane in addition to Fromenton, finished with the fastest average time which also earned the Conference a goal, making it 4-2 after two events.

Next up was Anderson’s event, the Rapid Fire goalie assault. Round one saw Kasimir Kaskisuo (East) face Martin Frk and Chris Terry of the West and make eight saves. Round two had the West’s Connor Ingram against Matt Moulson and Barre-Boulet of the East. Ingram made nine saves here.

Round three saw East goalie Vitek Vanecek face Joel L’Esperance and Sam Anas of the West with Vanecek making eight saves. In round four, Edison, New Jersey-native and current San Diego Gull in the Ducks’ organization, Anthony Stolarz faced Timothy Liljegren and Rudolfs Balcers of the East, making seven saves.

Round five featured Jonas Johansson tending goal for the East facing Tyler Benson and Menell, making five saves. In round six, Kevin Lankinen took over between the pipes for the West and had Vinni Lettieri and Sam Miletic shooting at him, as he stopped seven of them.

In round seven, the East sent out Alex Nedeljkovic against Matthew Ford and Derrick Pouliot and he stopped eight of their shots. The eighth and final round saw Anderson and Jake Bean fired at Cal Petersen, representing the West from the hometown Ontario Reign. He made seven saves on them.

With a total of 30 saves, the West earned a point in this event.

Next was the Hardest Shot competition which saw Martin Frk of the Reign earn a point for the West with a shot of 109.2 MPH. This not only set an American Hockey League record, but was faster than the NHL record currently held by Zdeno Chara. The West also gained a point with the highest average speed shot.

After four events, the score was the East four and the West five.

Event five was the Accuracy Shooting. This was won by Charles Hudon of the Laval Rocket, who hit all four targets in five attempts. The East earned a point here while the West also got one for their shooters having the most hits in the fewest total attempts.

Next was the Pass and Score event. Each player skating into the zone on a three-man rush on the goalie had to touch the puck. Ingram made one save and let in a goal when he faced Frost, Aho, and Formenton. Kaskisuo also let in two goals and made a single save when he faced Elvenes, Jansen Harkins and Tynan.

Stolarz faced Anderson, Balcers and Lettieri and let in one goal, making two saves. In round four, Vanecek stopped one and let in two when he faced Brayden Burke, Carrier and Pouliot. Round five saw Kevin Lankinen of the West face Bean, Miletic and Cameron Gaunce. He stopped one and let in two as well.

In round six, the East’s Jonas Johansson made a save and let in two against Clague, Wideman and Capoblanco. Petersen got set for round seven and let in two and made a save against Jeremy Bracco, Barre-Boulet and Adam Clendening. The final round saw Nedeljovic made two saves and let in one against Sam Anas, Tyler Benson and Joachim Blichfeld.

The two Conferences tied in this one, each scoring six goals and being awarded six points. It was now the East ten and the West eleven.

In the final event of the evening, the Breakaway Relay saw players skate in on a goal, take a shot and have to get back to the blue line so their teammate could take their chance.

Round one featured Ingram facing Studnicka, who scored and Keane, Matt Moulson, Rafferty and Hudon, who were all stopped.

Round two saw Kaskisuo face Clague, who he stopped, L’Esterance, who scored, Menell, who was stopped, Gawdin, who scored and Evan Bouchard, who scored.

Round three saw Stolarz face Anderson, who lost the puck and promptly wiped out in the corner, he recovered and got back so that Liljegren could go and he was stopped. Formenton scored and then Stolarz stopped Aho and Frost.

In round four, Vanecek let in a goal to Pouliot, then stopped Burke, Carrier, Blichfeld and Capoblanco in succession.

Lankinen went in round five and faced Balcers, who he stopped, Miletic, who scored and Bean, Lettieri and Barre-Boulet who were all stopped.

Johansson, in round six, turned aside Elvenes, let in an Anas shot, then stopped Wideman, Benson and Harkins.

Hometown hero Petersen gave up a goal to Bracco to start round seven, then stopped Gaunce, Clendening, Paul Carey and Moulson on the next four breakaways.

In the final round (eight), Nedeljkovic let in a goal to Ford and then, just like Petersen, denied Tynan, Chris Terry, Gerald Mayhew and Frk on the next four breakaways.

The West won the event, outscoring the East 6-4, which, added up gave us our final of the West 18 and the East 15.

So that concludes the 2020 AHL All-Star Skills Competition. Please join us tomorrow for coverage of the Devils at the Senators, coming back from the five-day bye week and the AHL All-Star Game later on from California.