In their final back-to-back of the season, the New Jersey Devils (37-36-5) lost to the Nashville Predators (45-24-4) 3-2 in a shootout. It was a tightly-fought contest but Nashville capitalized on the Devils’ shootout woes.
First Period
Jack Hughes jumped on the Predators early in the game, gliding into the circle and tucking the puck just underneath the crossbar. Luke Hughes assisted on the goal, breaking the Devils’ record for points by a rookie defenseman with 45. Nashville killed that hot start quickly, though, getting good looks in the offensive zone.
Roman Josi got the Predators on the board midway through the period, driving the puck through Kapo Kahkonen’s five-hole off the faceoff. Kahkonen went down in pain immediately after the goal. Nico Hischier collided with him on the previous play, but it was unclear if that was the cause of the injury. Regardless, Kahkonen exited the game and Jake Allen took his place.
Allen played fantastic in the second half of the period, stopping all seven shots he faced. He made a highlight-reel save on Filip Forsberg, casually sticking out his glove and plucking the puck out of the air.
Despite Allen’s heroics, the Devils didn’t have the momentum going into the first intermission. They notched a 37.84 Corsi-for percentage (CF%) and a 27.89 expected goal percentage (xG%).
Second Period
The teams played a relatively even second period with neither squad taking the lead. The Devils went blow for blow with Nashville in the offensive zone, especially later in the period but the Predators got robbed on multiple occasions.
The Devils got their first power play opportunity of the night on a Colton Sissons tripping call but couldn’t register a shot on Juuse Saros. The Predators went on the man-advantage soon afterward on a Jonas Siegenthaler tripping call and put New Jersey under siege. Jake Allen made another unreal save on the kill, stopping the puck on the goal line while on his back. He made another stellar save later in the period on Tommy Novak, squeezing his pad against the post to stop a sure-fire goal.
The Devils didn’t get many quality looks on Saros but Nico Hischier drew a penalty late in the period on a Jeremy Lauzon holding call, giving them a power play in the third period.
The Devils played a much closer game in the second period, posting a 51.52 CF% and a 48.94 xG%.
Third Period
The Devils squandered their man advantage in the opening minutes of the third period, not even managing to set up in the offensive zone. If the Nashvills thought they could breathe easy, however, they were dead wrong. Seconds after the kill, Tomas Nosek stole the puck away from Juuse Saros on a routine stop and dished the puck to Chris Tierney, who stuck it right between Saros and the post to put the Devils up 2-1.
Nashville got a golden opportunity to tie the game midway through the period when they went on the power play off a Kevin Bahl high-sticking call. The Devils all but killed that penalty but, late in the power play, Simon Nemec batted the puck out of midair in the defensive zone and it fell over the other side of the glass, resulting in a delay of game penalty. That extra penalty proved costly as Luke Evangelista tied the game seconds later at the 12:45 mark.
The Devils put on the pressure late to try and avoid overtime but fell flat. The Predators out-chanced the Devils in the third but New Jersey got the higher quality chances at five-on-five, earning a 37.93 CF% but a 62.76 xG%.
Overtime/Shootout
The Predators got possession early and kept it for over a minute. The Devils finally got the puck back and put the pressure on. New Jersey got a couple of good chances, most notably a Tomas Nosek and Brendan Smith two-on-nothing but couldn’t beat Saros. Luke Hughes took a penalty with 30 seconds to play in the extra frame but the Devils defended valiantly to take it to the shootout.
Gustav Nyquist and Timo Meier traded misses in the first round of the shootout. Jesper Bratt missed again for the Devils but Ryan O’Reilly beat Jake Allen to put the Devils on the brink. Saros put the dagger in the Devils with a stop on Jack Hughes to continue his penalty shot/shootout woes.
Results
It was certainly an interesting game but ultimately a fruitless one. There were positives: Jake Allen performed great and New Jersey stuck with a rough-and-tumble team like Nashville. Ultimately, it was a bittersweet effort.
The Devils are now 37-36-5 and have 79 points. The Predators are 45-29-4 with 94 points, two points ahead of Vegas in the wild-card race.
Game Notes
- Jake Allen had a stellar game, stopping 29 of 30 shots for a .967 SV% and 0.71 goals saved above expected (GSAx).
- The Devils’ depth made a sizable impact tonight. Chris Tierney tied it up and Brendan Smith almost scored the game-winner. Tomas Nosek was involved in both chances. Call-up Shane Bowers also had a nice game, notching a 0.79 Game Score.
- Ryan O’Reilly had a great game for Nashville, notching two assists to go along with a 1.52 Game Score.
Up Next
The Devils will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs on Tuesday at 7:00 pm ET.