Devils Lose in Shootout to Isles; Now Winless in Last Five

The Devils played game number 41 today, a 1 PM matinee and the halfway point of their season, on the brink of their bye week and it is official: they have hit a swoon. Winless in their last four, that longest stretch without a victory continued today in Brooklyn as the Devils fell 5-4 in a shootout. The Islanders had had an just as rough of a stretch, dropping their last four. All of their losses had come in regulation, putting them at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division as they came into this game. They snapped that with the win today.

The Devils have gotten a few points here and there: the overtime loss to Buffalo, the shootout loss to St. Louis and now this game, but they need to right some things coming out of their five day bye week. The majority of their games from here on out are against Metropolitan Division teams, including their first four out of the break – they get Philly twice, the Isles again and Washington, a rough patch for sure.

The Devils made some roster moves for this game, as Damon Severson, following being benched for two games, slotted back in. No defenseman came out, the Devils ran with eleven forwards and seven d-men. Stefan Noesen slotted out along with Jimmy Hayes and Drew Stafford up front.

The Islanders were missing two key cogs in their system, Josh Bailey and Andrew Ladd are out with injuries, but they should return soon. Isles coach Doug Weight said that the team is a walking MASH unit right now, likely part of the reason for their recent struggles. They had lost five in row for the first time since November of 2013. Sebastian Aho slotted in for Dennis Seidenberg for them.

In goal, Cory Schneider was back in for the Devils. He made 34 saves on 38 shots faced. Goaltending has been a bit of an Achilles heel for the Islanders, but they got a good game from Jaroslav Halak who made 42 saves on 46 shots.

It has almost become a running gag with the Devils having goals waved off and it continued today. At the 17:38 mark of the first period, Kyle Palmieri had seemingly scored on a wraparound. The officials waved the goal off, saying that Palmieri made incidental contact with Halak on the far side of the net, catching his blocker hand and impeding him from making the save. Despite Halak being outside of the blue paint, the goal did not count. The Devils used their coach’s challenge to say that their was no goalie interference but upon reviewing the video, the officials upheld the call on the ice. There was still no score.

That would change 15:28 into the period when Anders Lee scored for New York from Ryan Pulock and Thomas Hickey. After some bad luck, it was 1-0 Islanders.

The second period would bring the offensive awakening of Travis Zajac, as he scored twice before the period was over to help the Devils keep pace with the Isles, who would also grab one in the second. Zajac would go on to be named the game’s second star.

Zajac’s first goal came 4:43 in and happened when Palmieri skated the puck behind the Islanders’ net. He sent it back to Sami Vatanen at the near point, he shot and the puck came to Marcus Johansson, who spun, shot and the rebound came right to the stick of Zajac, who was collapsing down. Zajac scored and the game was tied up at one.

Anthony Beauvillier would give the Isles the lead again at 10:44 when he scored from Mathew Barzal and Jordan Eberle. That made it 2-1. But Zajac had one more in him before the period expired.

At 16:25, Zajac scored while the Devils were killing off Pavel Zacha’s high-sticking penalty. The shorthanded goal came when Brian Gibbons dished to Zajac at center ice, springing him for the breakaway. Zajac skated in on Halak and roofed one, tying the game up at two. That set the stage for a wild third period.

First, just 2:41 in, the Devils took the lead for the first time all game when Miles Wood scored. It came when Taylor Hall grabbed a loose puck off the Devils’ forecheck. He passed to Will Butcher at the near point. Butcher fired and Wood gathered up the rebound and potted it to give the Devils the lead, 3-2.

Hall would double the Devils lead and score his second point on the afternoon less than a minute later at 3:18. Wood, John Moore and Hall broke in on a partial 3-on-2 with Wood carrying the puck. He dropped for Moore, who was trailing. Moore immediately found Hall, who cut in and made a nice move around Halak to give the Devils the 4-2 lead. That, however, would not last.

Aho would scored on the power play at 7:58 of the third while Hall was sitting for cross checking. He got assists from John Tavares and Barzal. On the evening, New York was 1-for-3 with the man advantage with four shots on net. New Jersey was 0-for-5 with eleven shots on goal. They also had three shorthanded shots.

The Islanders were not done, however, Cal Clutterbuck scored at 15:43 from Aho and Brock Nelson to tie things up at four. And that is how regulation would end. The Devils’ first trip to Brooklyn this season would result in at least a point, if not more if they could manage a win in overtime.

They were certainly presented with the opportunity. With 2:30 remaining in the five minute extra session, Isles superstar Tavares was called for tripping Palmieri. The Devils would have a 4-on-3 for most of the remainder of the OT. They did not finish, coming closest when Hall hit the crossbar late in the man advantage. Time expired on the overtime and we were headed to the dreaded shootout.

It ended up going five rounds as Eberle missed on his shot, Hall’s shot was corralled by Halak in the first round. Schneider saved Tavares’ shot and Jesper Bratt missed in the second round. In the third, both goalies made saves on Barzal and Palmieri. In the fourth round, Schneider got Anders Lee’s shot and Brian Boyle lost control of the puck on his chance. Brock Nelson kicked off round five by scoring and Brian Gibbons missed in the bottom of the round to seal the win for New York.

Statistically, time on ice was led by Taylor Hall with 23:53 (narrowly edging out Kyle Palmieri, who had 23:31). Hall, who is really hitting a stride recently, despite the team’s struggles, also led in shots on goal with eight. Blake Coleman led in hits with four and Palmieri and Andy Greene tied in the lead for blocks with three each. The Devils won 46-percent of the game’s faceoffs.

So now we head into the five day bye week for the Devils – the Islanders will also have their bye this week. They will practice on Friday at four o’clock when the bye officially ends, but their next game is not until next Saturday when they meet the Philadelphia Flyers at home for the first time this season. A lot of their upcoming schedule will be dominated by the Metro Division so it is time to make hay. Hopefully, the team can get things going and make up some ground. They did lose a little bit of ground as the Capitals won in OT against the Blues today, so the Devils are at least three points out going into the break. We will see how things shake down when the Devils get back on the ice.

Sabres Snap Devils’ Bid For Perfect Homestand in OT

Sports are weird. The Devils had won five straight games and six out of their last seven. They are in the hunt for first place in the Metropolitan Division, the toughest division in the Eastern Conference, if not the entire NHL. The Devils were rolling this holiday season and nothing seemed to be able to derail them.

Then along come the Buffalo Sabres, last place in the Eastern Conference, falling behind in the much weaker Atlantic Division. They had won only one overtime game this year and were just struggling overall. But, instead of the script going the way it should have – the Devils winning on home ice and sweeping a homestand of more than five games for the first time in their 35 years of existence – the Sabres were the ones who prevailed, in OT, 4-3. They came back from a two goal deficit and a little bit of help from instant replay to top the Devils.

Buffalo is currently on an extended road trip (one which includes a “home” game at Citi Field against the Rangers in the Winter Classic) due to the IIHF World Junior Championship taking over their facilities in Western New York.

A roster move to inform you about: Dalton Prout cleared waivers and was assigned to Binghamton of the AHL. The Devils had to make this move after the Christmas break roster freeze and getting everyone back and healthy. Also, Prout had not played since October or so, so it was only fair to get him some playing time in the American League. Tonight, Jimmy Hayes, Ben Lovejoy and Drew Stafford were the healthy scratches.

In goal, Cory Schneider was making another start for the Devils. He has gotten back to being his usual workhorse self this season. He made 25 saves on 29 Sabres shots. Facing him was Robin Lehner who made 35 saves on the night on 38 Devils shots. The Devils saw Lehner in relief earlier in the season up in Buffalo in what was a rout in favor of New Jersey.

The Devils got the scoring kicked off 13:35 into the first period. Damon Severson broke into the Buffalo zone and gave it to Pavel Zacha. He dished to Stefan Noesen, who jammed it in on Lehner. Miles Wood was trailing and was relentless in the goal mouth scramble, continuing to chip away at the puck and finding it loose and putting it by Lehner to make it 1-0 Devils.

That lead would last until 5:27 into the second period when an old friend struck back at the Devils. Jacob Josefson scored his second of the season on a partial breakaway off an intercepted pass in the Sabres’ zone to tie things up at one. He got an assist from Jordan Nolan.

From there the Devils seemed to take control of the game. It began when Marcus Johansson scored at 8:34 on the power play. Zemgus Girgensons had gone off for holding setting that up and Johansson skated the puck into the Sabres’ zone. He gave to Jesper Bratt at the top of the far faceoff circle, who passed to Sami Vatanen at the point. Vatanen passed down to Nico Hischier at the near half wall. Hischier moved back and forth, drawing some pressure to him and then gave back to Vatanen at the point. He one-touched a pass to Johansson, who was lurking at the far faceoff dot. Johansson one-timed a shot by Lehner to give the Devils back the lead, 2-1.

That power play goal made the Devils 1-for-2 on the night. They had one shot on those two power plays. Buffalo was 1-for-3 with five shots.

The Devils would add to their lead 14:55 into the second period when John Moore struck for his fifth of the year. It happened when the puck was dumped into the Sabres’ zone and Nathan Beaulieu tried to wind the puck around the boards. It was cut off by Brian Gibbons, who gave to Moore at the near point. He fired and beat Lehner to make it 3-1 Devils.

From there, however, the wheels would begin to fall off for the Devils. It began, as it usually does, with a goal given up late in the period. Jack Eichel scored from Jake McCabe and Girgensons at the 18:05 mark of the second period. Eichel had redirected McCabe’s shot to make it 3-2 Devils. The Sabres would then tie things up at three when Eichel scored his second of the game 11:04 into the third period from Kyle Okposo and Rasmus Ristolainen. That goal came on the power play as Vatanen was sitting for slashing. Eichel would nearly notch the hat trick when he would hit the crossbar with less than two minutes left in the game.

Then the weird part of the game, as the Devils had seemingly retaken the lead at 7:42 of the third when Taylor Hall skated in and beat Lehner with a beautiful move. Sabres coach Phil Housley challenged the goal, claiming Hall was offsides when he entered the Sabres zone. They won, as the replay showed that Hall was essentially bobbling the puck in the air when he entered the zone, meaning he did not have full control of it. It was a nice play on Hall’s part, but was deemed no goal by the officials. The game was still tied up at three.

So, after all of that, time in regulation expired and we were headed off to overtime. It was Buffalo’s second straight OT game, having lost to the Islanders the other night. The OT period was amazing, with action going back-and-forth for about two and a half minutes until, at 2:37, Ristolainen found twine behind Cory off an assist to Ryan O’Reilly to make it a 4-3 final.

So, some stats on the night. Vatanen was the ice time leader, eating up 23:15. He also led the Devils in shots on goal with a whopping eight. Steven Santini led in hits with four, while Travis Zajac and Moore both led in blocks with two apiece. The Devils won only 39-percent of their faceoffs as a team.

Next up, tomorrow, a showdown with the Washington Capitals in Washington. The Devils actually still lead the Metro Division, having gained their 50th point tonight. The Caps will be a stiff test and something the Devils have not seen in a long time. That will also be the second half of a back-to-back (the Capitals did not play tonight, making things tougher for the Devils) and the final game for the Devils in the 2017 calendar year. We will see you then.