The New Jersey Devils handed the Ottawa Senators a 4-3 loss, which eliminated the Senators from playoff contention.
The New Jersey Devils jumped back into the win column Saturday night, earning a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators at Canadian Tire Centre in front of 19,146 hockey fans. Goaltender Jake Allen impressed in his ninth start for the Devils by making 25 saves on 28 shots.
Erik Haula opened the scoring with his 15th goal of the season, 3:50 seconds into the first period. His wrist shot beat opposing netminder Anton Forsberg. Jack Hughes and Brendan Smith were credited with the assists.
The Devils extended their lead at the 12:36 mark courtesy of Ondrej Palat. Defenseman Luke Hughes received the puck from Alexander Holtz and shot it from the blue line toward Forsberg. Palat tipped the puck for his 11th goal of the season.
Hughes' assist was his 44th point of the season, which tied him with Will Butcher for the most points earned by a rookie defenseman in a single season in team history.
In the final minutes of the opening frame, Smith's slap shot beat Forsberg for a 3-0 Devils lead. It was the veteran's fifth goal of the season, which tied his career-high in goals in a single season, which he previously achieved twice.
The Senators made a goaltending change after Smith's goal, replacing Forsberg with Joonas Korpisalo after the former allowed three goals on nine shots.
The Devils entered the first intermission with a 10-8 shot advantage and a 3-0 lead. Smith was working on a two-point night for the third time this season.
In the early seconds of the middle frame, Ottawa got on the board on the power play. Jake Sanderson scored his third power-play goal of the season. Drake Batherson and Claude Giroux collected the assists.
Nico Hischier regained his team's three-goal lead with his 26th of the season a little over halfway into the period. Jesper Bratt earned the primary assist and his second point of the night. Smith was credited with the secondary assist and earned three points in a single game for the first time in his career.
New Jersey entered the second intermission with a 4-1 lead and a 21-13 shot advantage, outshooting Ottawa in the second period 10-5.
Smith was called for a hooking penalty early in the third period. It set the Senators up to score their second power-play goal of the night. Giroux scored his 21st of the season. Sanderson and Batherson earned the assists and their second point of the night.
With five minutes remaining in regulation, Hischier fired a shot toward the Ottawa net but missed. The puck moved up the ice along the wall to a waiting Brady Tkachuk, who jumped over the boards for his shift. The Senators' captain blasted the puck past Allen for his 34th goal of the season and a 4-3 Devils lead.
The Devils survived a late surge from the Senators for their first win since March 26.
UP NEXT: The Devils will host the Nashville Predators on Sunday, April 7.
LINES:
Timo Meier - Nico Hischier - Dawson Mercer
Jack Hughes - Erik Haula - Jesper Bratt
Ondrej Palat - Tomas Nosek - Alexander Holtz
Kurtis MacDermid - Chris Tierney -Curtis Lazar
Luke Hughes - Nick DeSimone
Kevin Bahl - Brendan Smith
Jonas Siegenthaler - Simon Nemec
Jake Allen
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