OTTAWA — Jack Hughes scored the shootout winner as the New Jersey Devils snapped a three-game losing streak with a 4-3 win over the Ottawa Senators Monday night.
Hughes also scored the overtime winner when the two teams met Dec. 29.
The Senators trailed 2-1 heading into the third before scoring two short-handed goals in a span of 35 seconds to take the lead, only for Kyle Palmieri to tie the game with less than four minutes to go in regulation.
Vladislav Namestnikov tied the game with a quick wrist shot and moments later Chris Tierney put Ottawa (17-23-9) ahead.
Jesper Bratt was able to grab a loose puck in the crease and get it to Palmieri, who quickly put it past Marcus Hogberg to make it 3-3.
The Devils (18-24-7) had the better chances in overtime but Hogberg — who made 50 saves through regulation and the extra period — was solid.
Mackenzie Blackwood, making his first start since Jan. 9, stopped 35 shots for the Devils.
Mark Borowiecki had a scary moment in the third when Blake Coleman’s stick caught him right below the eye. The Senators defenceman immediately left the ice, but was back shortly after.
A game between the 28th- and 29th-place teams didn’t lack intensity as Brady Tkachuk and P.K. Subban went at it. The two got under each other’s skin early in the first period and finally dropped the gloves early in the second. The two continued to rile one another in the penalty box.
The Devils took a 2-1 lead as Kevin Rooney scored a wraparound goal on Hogberg at the four-minute mark of the second.
New Jersey opened the scoring midway through the first period with a power-play goal that Hogberg misplayed. Damon Severson’s point shot rang off the post and hit Hogberg’s skate and he inadvertently pushed it across the goal line.
Ottawa tied the game late in the period as Tkachuk redirected a point shot to Tyler Ennis, who beat Blackwood with a quick shot.
Notes
The two teams were playing their first game in nine days following the bye week… Jean-Gabriel Pageau returned to Ottawa’s lineup after having missed the last two games before the break with a sore neck. Connor Carrick was a healthy scratch for the Devils. The Senators held a moment of silence in honour of Kobe Bryant and eight others killed in a helicopter crash Sunday morning.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2020.
Lisa Wallace, The Canadian Press