Introduction

The New Jersey Devils lost in the shootout for the first time this season tonight against the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-3. This after leading 3-2 late in the contest. With the loss, the Devils move to 4-2-1 on the season.

Recap

First Period

This late afternoon tilt started out well for the Devils with them scoring 1:07 into the game. Andreas Johnsson roofed a snap shot off a feed from Jesper Bratt behind the net to give New Jersey the early lead. Play was pretty even following that, until New Jersey took a penalty and the Devil killer Oliver Bjorkstrand capitalized.

After the goal, Columbus controlled the remainder of the period, although they only got one more goal. That one belonged to a Patrick Laine rocket that went top shelf past Scott Wedgewood. Nico Hischier got one final chance before the period ended, but besides that the remainder of the first was relatively uneventful.

Second Period

Columbus’ late period domination continued to start the second period until the Devils took a penalty. This had the opposite effect as it did in the first. New Jersey dominated on the penalty kill which shifted the momentum for what seemed like most of the remainder of regulation. Shortly after the penalty ended, the Devils got a couple of quick ones.

Dawson Mercer stuffed one in short-side after making a beautiful move behind the net. Almost immediately after, Nico Hischier fed Dougie Hamilton from behind the net who rocketed one past the blocker hand of Jonas Korpisalo to give the Devils the lead back. Johnsson got three or four chances at the very end of the period that were all snuffed out by Korpisalo. So, the second frame ended with New Jersey up by one.

Third Period

The Devils continued to dominate as the third period began. Dougie Hamilton led the charge every time he was on the ice. Columbus had a couple pushes here and there to no avail. Although the Blue Jackets had no long sustained pressures, that didn’t stop them from registering a goal. Ty Smith had a brutal turnover that led to Boone Jenner beating Wedgewood glove-side to tie the game. This came with just over five minutes left.

Hope wasn’t out yet for the Devils though. They got a power play with just about three and a half minutes to go. Thanks to a lot of pressure, they drew another penalty. New Jersey had a 34-second five-on-three. Unfortunately, they were unable to take advantage and the game was sent to overtime.

Overtime/Shootout

The Devils dominated a majority of overtime with Dougie Hamilton getting a couple great chances he couldn’t bury. Oliver Bjorkstrand hit the post, but the game headed to a shootout. Shootouts and the Devils’ do not mix well, and surprise surprise, they lost. Jakub Voracek scored the winner in the third round to drop the Devils to 4-2-1.

Notes

• The Dougie Hamilton and Ryan Graves pair has continued to thrive. The duo now ranks first in the NHL among defense pairs that have played 80 or more minutes in 5v5 corsi-for percentage (CF%). It’s no question that they’ve been elite thus far.

• On the contrary, the defense pair of Ty Smith and Damon Severson has really struggled as of late. It seems as if they’re almost never in the offensive zone when they’re out there and that’s reflected in their advanced stats. A 45.35 CF% and 44.17 expected goals percentage (xG%) will not get the job done.

• While the forward group as a whole has been good as of late, the line of Johnsson, Mercer, and Jesper Bratt has been exceptionally good. The trio has played just over 25 minutes together over the past week or so and have compiled a 73.68 CF% and a 75.67 xG%. They’ve also combined for six goals over the past three games.

Next Game: Tuesday night, at 10:00 PM ET, in Anaheim, CA.

All statistics are via Naturalstattrick.