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Devils Postgame

Devils Offensive Woes Continue; Lose to Senators on Back-to-Back

The offensive woes continue for the New Jersey Devils, this time against the Ottawa Senators as they fall 2-1, losing both games this weekend.

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New Jersey Devils
New Jersey Devils' Timo Meier, right, skates with the puck against Ottawa Senators' Thomas Chabot, left, during the second period of an NHL hockey game Sunday, Jan. 19, 2025, in Newark, N.J. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Since the last meeting between the New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators in October, the Eastern Conference playoff race has begun to tighten up and take shape. The Devils entered today 2-5-3 in their last 10, and coming off of a disappointing effort against the Philadelphia Flyers yesterday afternoon. Meanwhile, the Senators have clawed their way to the second wild card spot after taking down the Boston Bruins in a shootout on Saturday.



Despite illness spreading throughout the Devils locker room, head coach Sheldon Keefe started what he believed was his strongest available lineup. With Jacob Markstrom back in the net, the Devils needed a bounce-back effort to secure both points.

It was all Devils in the early goings. After registering just three shots total in the opening frame, they were up to seven by just the first TV timeout. Despite the norovirus running rampant in the locker room, the Devils had their legs early and pushed for offense.

The Devils leaned on the Senators for most of the first 20 minutes, registering 17 shots on goal and owning 1.09 expected goals. They buzzed around the Senators zone for the majority of the period, working their cycle game and doing a much better job funneling pucks to the high-danger areas. Unfortunately for the Devils, Senators goalie Anton Forsberg was up for the challenge.

Early portions of the second period started similar to the first. The Devils fourth line in particular held the Senators in their own zone for good stretches. However, the Senators slowly shifted the tide, forcing Markstrom into making a fantastic glove save from point-blank range.

As the second period wore on, the more the Senators got into the game. After trading a handful of half-chances, it was the road team that got on the board first. A spin-around shot by Zack Ostapchuk squeaked by Markstrom.

However, it didn’t take long for the Devils to strike back! People asked for depth scoring, and depth scoring they got, as Tomas Tatar followed up his own chance in front to beat Forsberg and tie the game at one apiece. A nice piece of play from the fourth line as Curtis Lazar carried the puck up in transition before dropping it off to Tatar who scored off of his rebound for his first goal since November 23rd.

At the end of two periods, Ottawa owned the shots advantage for the period 10-6, but it’s the Devils who still led in total shots on goal 22-12, as well as in expected goals with 2.1 compared to Ottawa’s 0.85.

In what was one of the biggest periods of the season to date, the Devils fell flat on their face. Careless puck play led to a puck finding defenseman Artem Zub in the high slot who wired one past Markstrom to make it 2-1 Senators.

The Senators were awarded a handful of power plays but did nothing with them. Fortunately for them, the Devils looked all out of ideas on offense. They were unable to manage anything of substance in the offensive zone and gradually ran out of juice. They managed a pitiful three shots on goal in one of the biggest periods of the season.

Boos rained down from the Prudential Center crowd as the Devils skated off the ice losers of four in a row, twice on back-to-back days, and 2-5-3 since the start of the New Year.

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