Introduction
If you had told me out of all the New York teams, the one from Buffalo would be causing the New Jersey Devils the most problems, I would have said you were crazy. However, that is exactly what has happened this year. The Buffalo Sabers have been a thorn in the Devils’ side all year. Going into Thursday, the lowly team from western New York won three of the four matchups with the Devils this season.
The Devils lost to them just Tuesday night. As the condensed schedule dictates, it was not long until they saw each other once again, Thursday night. The Sabres were looking to continue their unlikely success (let’s be honest, any success for Buffalo is unlikely). Meanwhile, New Jersey wanted to end their own three-game losing streak.
The Recap
First Period
Thursday’s first period went much like the first period of Tuesday’s game. New Jersey once again out-shot Buffalo, but couldn’t score a goal. However, unlike Tuesday’s game, Buffalo was able to strike first and take a 1-0 lead into the intermission. Buffalo’s first tally came off of the stick of Riley Sheahan with the assist going to Buffalo’s top line left winger Victor Olofsson. Olofsson continues his excellent play against New jersey this year.
Second Period
Just over five minutes into the games middle frame, the score was tied up courtesy a Jesper Bratt wrist shot. That goal was Bratt’s first of the year, yet another assist going to newly minted top line left winger Pavel Zacha. Unfortunately, for New Jersey, Buffalo would get it right back. Casey Mittelstadt scored his first of the season to give Buffalo a 2-1 lead. That goal came on the power play as New Jersey’s penalty kill continued to struggle.
Third Period
The third period saw New Jersey come alive. It was perhaps their best period since their opening frame against the Washington Capitals on Wednesday. Buffalo native Miles Wood evened the score with a power play goal of his own. Former Devil Taylor Hall took a double minor on a high-sticking call to give New Jersey a man advantage for four minutes. Ty Smith picked up the secondary assist. Nikita Gusev, who has been struggling to score, picked up the primary assist.
A sight that Devils fans have been waiting to see came to fruition a few minutes later as Nico Hischier scored his first of the season. Ever since coming back, Hischier has struggled a bit getting back to full speed. Hopefully, the above unassisted backhand shot that gave the Devils the first lead of the night was a sign of things to come. Has Nico Hischier got his groove back?
Unfortunately, the Achilles heel of being shorthanded once again came back to bite New Jersey. Sam Reinhart scored the equalizer after Travis Zajac took a high-sticking penalty. Reinhart was left off the score sheet on the Olofsson goal earlier in the game and picked up his first point of the night.
Remember, he has two multiple point games against New Jersey in their past two meetings. Taylor Hall picked up an assist as well. Even if he continues piling on points, he has broken through with a goal yet.
Overtime
The Devils and Sabres went into overtime for the second time this season. Their previous time was their first meeting of the season which saw Buffalo win in a shootout. This time the Devils would be victorious, and they wouldn’t even need to go to the skill competition.
Pavel Zacha scored while Jesper Bratt and Ty Smith rounded out the three-on-three trio. Bratt left a drop-pass right behind the faceoff circles in Buffalo’s zone for Zacha to unleash a shot. New Jersey ended a three-game losing streak, and a two-game losing streak against Buffalo specifically
Statistics And More
Pavel Zacha not only got the game-winning goal, but extended his point streak to eight games. The left winger picked up not on, not two, but three points on the night. Zacha now has 12 points in 15 games, the best pace of his career.
Ty Smith also has a multiple point night with two points — both assists. Smith was second on the team in ice-time with 23:56. Damon Severson lead the team with 24:30.
Dmitry Kulikov was the only Devils to end the game with a negative plus/minus a he was on the ice for the games opening goal.
Next Game: Saturday, in Newark vs. Washington, at 1:00 PM ET