The New Jersey Devils lost in overtime to the Washington Capitals 4-3 on Saturday evening, but not all was bad. Jesper Bratt recorded two goals, scoring in both the second and third periods.
The team couldn’t secure the win but showed signs of improved offense, which has been missing recently.
Bratt spoke about how the game went after his two-goal performance.
“We’ve got to manage that a little better,” Bratt said. “We can’t let them come back and score the next shift on us right away.”
Bratt’s two goals place him sixth all-time in Devils franchise points. He now has 477, passing Scott Niedermayer.
Bratt’s first goal of the night was a power play goal that tied the game one a piece. Heading into the second period, the score was 2-1, and Bratt gave the Devils another tying goal. The tie would not last long; 32 seconds later, Cody Glass would score for the Devils to provide them with their first lead of the night.
Bratt has had a strong start to his season. He has earned 31 points this season. Saturday night, Bratt skated alongside Ondrej Palat and Jack Hughes. Bratt played just under 18 minutes on the ice and propelled the Devils' scoring despite the loss.
At practice on Sunday, head coach Sheldon Keefe shared the impact Bratt had on the team.
“When you see a guy like (Jesper) Bratt get two goals, you get 5-on-5 goals, a power-play goal as a team, you hope that’s a positive trend that we’re going to start to finish here,” Keefe told NJD.tv.
On Monday, the Devils focused on stick work during a dedicated skills practice. Keefe explained the move to focus the session on skills development.
“Some of our top offensive people, maybe they’ll get some extra touches on the power play or in general. They’ll get more scoring opportunities, so you’re in those spots,” Keefe said. “But for some guys, if you’re not practicing often and just playing games, you might actually shoot a puck two or three times a week. Put that in perspective, if a puck lands on your stick at a time when you want to execute and score a goal, and you haven’t been in that spot often.”
Looking ahead, the Devils face the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday.
After their skills practice, they hope to continue improving offensively and see more players deliver multi-point nights like Bratt. Keefe reaffirmed his message to the team when he decided to have a skills practice and looked ahead.
“A day like today, coming off three days off and a time where we’re trying to finish better with the chances that we have,” Keefe said to NJD.tv. “We need to get the guys as many opportunities to shoot the puck into the net as possible today.”
The puck will drop at 7 PM on Tuesday as the Devils look to get out of their three-game losing streak.
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