Brendan Smith scored a goal and assisted twice as the New Jersey Devils ended a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 win against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night.
Erik Haula, Ondrej Palat, and Nico Hischier also scored for New Jersey, securing a 2-1 victory in the season series. Jake Allen made 25 saves.
“We’ve had a couple of games where we had the lead in the third period and then lost it,” said Hischier. “So, it feels good to finally get this win.”
Jake Sanderson, Claude Giroux, and Brady Tkachuk scored for Ottawa, who trailed 4-1 after two periods and have now lost three consecutive games, eliminating them from playoff contention.
Anton Forsberg started in the net for Ottawa but was substituted in the first period after conceding three goals on nine shots. Joonas Korpisalo replaced him and made 18 saves.
Trailing 4-1, Giroux reduced the Devils’ lead with a power-play goal early in the third period. Tkachuk then scored to make it a one-goal game with just under six minutes left to play.
Tkachuk praised his team’s performance in the third period, stating, “It felt like that was probably our best period all year.”
Although the Devils may not have played their best in the third period, interim coach Travis Green was relieved to secure the win, acknowledging that his team got a bit “panicky” after Tkachuk’s goal.
Sanderson scored a power-play goal early in the second period to put the Senators on the scoreboard. The Devils extended their lead to 4-1 later in the second period with Hischier’s goal.
New Jersey took a commanding 3-0 lead in the first period, with goals from Haula, Palat, and Smith, leading to Forsberg being replaced in goal for Ottawa.
Senators interim coach Jacques Martin expressed frustration at his team’s early mistakes, noting, “You make a mistake and the puck’s in your net. So we’ve got to be better as a group.”
