As we get closer and closer to the end of the 25-26 season, we are also saying goodbye to the controversial Jersey Jerseys which made their final appearance. Hopefully the marketing and design teams can come up with something a little better as the black alternate for the 26-27 season.
On to the game, we would see the return of Nico Daws and NHL debut of defenseman Topias Vilen. On the Ottawa side, they sat a variety of regulars in Brady Tkachuk (who had a weird head injury), Jake Sanderson, and Tim
Stutzle, so we would get their B+ squad.
1st Period
The period started a little flat, but once the Devils got going they really took control.
We got on the board first at 5:12 as Nico’s line cashed in on some good O-zone cycling down low. Timo outmuscled Lars Eller in the corner, worked his way up the wall and floated one across the slot where Mercer got his stick free on top of the crease to bang it on goal. The rebound kicked out to Nico who made no mistake burying it form point blank on the open net.
That line would put us up 2-0 a few minutes later, as Mercer cleaned up some trash in front – but it was called for offside as earlier in the play Timo pulled it a millimeter out of the zone.
Lenni would go of for a high stick on Pinto (with Sal dropping the line of the night “he better be bleeding after that”). The 4 minutes would stand as Pinto was indeed bleeding. However the Devils went on the power kill, generating far more offense than the Senators and cashing in on a shorty at 14:51. Jack picked up the puck at the blue line and sent a beautiful floater to space for Brown to skate on to. It looked like he got his hands hooked just a wee bit and pulled the Kucherov, letting it slide through Reimer’s legs.
2nd Period
For the entire 20 minutes of the 2nd the Devils played with the urgency of my kids putting on their shoes before school. They put up .2 xGs in the entire 2nd period on 5 whole shots. They got out attempted 16-9, and out chanced 11-3. Pathetic.
Ottawa took advantage with 3 goals, the first on a tip in front that Daws had no chance on. The puck came up to Zub at the point, who fired a wrist shot that was going wide, but Amadio got a stick on it. At 9:02, Hameenaho would take a suspect hooking penalty, sending Ottawa to the power play where they would cash in on a cross zone pass from Giroux to Pinto for his 23rd. The Senators would tack on a 3rd after a brutal mistake by Jack, as he got way too casual flipping a backhand pass right in front of Daws that old pal Zetterlund intercepted, dangled a bit and finished.
It could’ve been worse, but they got to the room down 3-2.
3rd Period
The Devils woke up from their nap 5 minutes into the 3rd, peppering Reimer on a power play -the result of Cousins tripping Nemec in the corner at 4:30. There was a bit of confusion as Brown had a nice little tip in front that went off the cross bar and it was blown as a goal at first, but quickly the correct call was made. Shortly after the refs would give Reimer a quick whistle after not covering the puck, and Jack finished it – much to the chagrin of several Senators.
The Devils would go back on the power play at 9:51, a unit that had been struggling a bit to generate dangerous chances and was 0-3 on the night through 2 periods. The Senators got a 2 on 2 shorthanded break, and the ref show continued as Jack got a questionable interference call fighting for ice with Amadio, so we would go to 4 on 4. After a great shift by Glass and Cotter (who was interfered with in the corner), Nico and Mercer would come on – and in the best “puck don’t lie” moment of the night – Mercer would finish a shorthanded breakaway after a nice puck battle win and chip up by Hischier. Great finish from Mercer on a forehand-backhand shimmy shake for his 20th of the season.
After nap time during the second, the 3rd was a much different story – the Devils put up 1.5 xGs (half their game oputput) on 10 shots, 10 scoring chances and 4 high danger chances.
On to free hockey!
Overtime
The Devils did their typical Devils thing in OT, dominating possession and play, highlighted by some Jack and Bratt magic, my favorite moment of which was a sexy give and go right up the middle that Reimer made a big save on Bratt. He followed the rebound up the boards and Batherson slashed his tick out of his hands, giving the Devils an OT power play.
On the 4 on 3, Dougie was having the time of his life, with multiple grade A chances, a cross bar, and even and end to end rush. After the cross bar went out of play, Nico would win the ensuing draw back to Dougie, who slid it over to Jack. Jack would circle at the blueline, creating some space before coming downhill and firing one, and Nico was right in front to clean up the trash for his 28th of the season.
4-3 win!
Some Scattered Thoughts
Daws was pretty steady tonight, nothing egregious and he made 2 outstanding saves toward the end of the 3rd, one of which Marky would’ve overcommitted into Metlife Stadium. Daws was calm and collected, albeit unspectacular.
Vilen was solid, didn’t really notice him all that much – which is a good thing. He finished with 11:22 of ice time, and won his minutes with a xGF of 61%, shot advantage of 7-6, chance advantage of 5-4 and was on for 1 goal for and none against. About what you could want.
We dominate in OT, and it is still so frustrating that we couldn’t get there a few more times this season. Shots were 7-1 and we were in their zone the entire time. 12-0-2 after regulation ends this season. Meanwhile we were trailing entering the 3rd period 26 times this season, and got 2 points in total – a SO loss and OT loss. This was the FIRST win this season while trailing after 2 periods (according to the internet).
On the out of town scoreboard we saw the final nail in the Islanders coffin, as they were officially eliminated. First time in history all three Tri-State teams have missed the playoffs at the same time. Oh, and PS, Palat was scratched.
Speaking of out of town happenings, we may have seen the last Ovechkin/Crosby matchup – unless the Caps win their last game and the Flyers lose both theirs. And if Ovechkin decides to come back next season – there’s that too.
That’s about it, good win, just wish it meant something. Let me know your thoughts below!
LGD
