The New Jersey Devils [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/new-jersey-devils] played their fourth preseason game yesterday in a split-squad matchup. Half the team faced the Ottawa Senators on the road, while the other half hosted the Washington Capitals in New Jersey. The New Jersey group started slowly but battled back to force overtime, ultimately falling 3–2 in a shootout. Despite the loss, there were several key takeaways. Devils Lineup (vs. Washington) Gritsyuk – Hughes – Bratt Palat – Hischier – Meier Lachance – Melovsky – Hameenaho MacDermid – Glendening – Halonen Casey – Pesce Dillon – Nemec Vilen – Osipov Markstrom, Daws This lineup was the closest to a regular-season look so far this preseason, with Jacob Markstrom starting in goal. The Devils managed two goals in regulation. The first came 15:10 into the second period, when captain Nico Hischier scored off a wrist shot assisted by Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, cutting the Capitals’ lead to 2–1. Shane Lachance tied the game midway through the third, finishing a play set up by Hughes and Simon Nemec. New Jersey was heavily outshot early, 10–2 in the first period, but narrowed the gap to 17–8 in the second and 19–18 in the third. The game was decided in a shootout, which unfolded as follows: * Jack Hughes scored * Pierre-Luc Dubois scored * Jesper Bratt missed * Ryan Leonard scored * Arseny Gritsyuk scored * Jakob Chychrun missed * Timo Meier missed * Aliaksei Protas missed * Nico Hischier missed * Andrew Cristall scored, clinching the win for Washington Meanwhile, the squad in Ottawa fared no better. Devils Lineup (vs. Ottawa) Dadonov – Mercer – Brown Cotter – Glass – Legare Bordeleau – Rooney – Squires Crookshank – Lammikko – Parent Cholowski – Addison Edwards – Strand White – Diotte Romanov, Malek The Devils were shut out 2–0 by the Senators, with Ottawa scoring twice in the third period. Stephen Halliday and Olle Lycksell provided the goals. New Jersey took three penalties: Cholowski (holding, 1st period), and Strand and Brown (tripping, 3rd period). The standout for the Devils was goaltender Romanov, who stopped 61 shots for a .968 save percentage and 1.02 goals against average. Both Devils squads came up short, and the organization has now begun roster cuts ahead of the 2025–26 regular season opener on October 9 against the Carolina Hurricanes. New Jersey will close out the preseason with two more games: Thursday, October 2 against the New York Rangers, and Saturday, October 4 against the Philadelphia Flyers.
