Nico Hischier scored a power-play goal with 1:42 remaining in overtime and the New Jersey Devils earned a 4-3 victory over the Ottawa Senators on Sunday night in Newark, N.J.
Hischier collected two goals and an assist and finished off his fifth three-point game of the season by getting to the net after winning an offensive zone faceoff from Shane Pinto.
The Devils moved the puck around and goalie James Reimer stopped a shot by Jack Hughes. Reimer could not control the rebound as Hischier beat Ottawa defensemen Artem Zub and Nikolas Matinpalo to the loose puck and slid it under his pads for his ninth career overtime goal.
Dawson Mercer scored the tying goal on a short-handed breakaway with 7:32 remaining in regulation after getting a tally disallowed due to an offsides call in the first period. Connor Brown also scored on a short-handed breakaway as the Devils held a 2-0 lead through the opening 20 minutes.
Hughes notched two assists to reach 50 assists for the second time in his career as the Devils (42-36-3, 87 points) improved to 14-7-1 in their past 22 games.
Ottawa countered New Jersey’s early lead with three goals in a span of 6:32 during the second period.
Michael Amadio scored on a redirection of Zub’s point shot with 12:18 remaining, Pinto buried a one-timer from the right circle with 9:35 left and Fabian Zetterlund put a puck into the open net after forcing a turnover by Hughes near the crease with 5:46 to go.
New Jersey goalie Nico Daws made 27 saves in his second appearance this season and highlighted his effort with a point-blank stop on Drake Batherson in the final minute before overtime.
Reimer made 26 saves for the Senators (43-27-11, 97 points), who saw a four-game winning streak stopped and are one point behind Boston for the first wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference. If the teams finish tied, Ottawa would win the tiebreaker due to their 37 regulation wins.
A day after clinching a playoff spot with Saturday afternoon’s 3-0 win over the New York Islanders, the Senators rested Brady Tkachuk and Tim Stuztle along with defensemen Thomas Chabot and Jake Sanderson.
–Field Level Media
