Devils Postgame
Devils Suffer Another Injury, Show Fight, Fall to Stars in Final Moments
The New Jersey Devils suffer another key injury in a heartbreaking loss in the final moments of their tilt with the Dallas Stars.
Can the New Jersey Devils just played in bubble wrap until the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline? In their tilt on Tuesday night with the Dallas Stars, they suffered another injury amid a heartbreaking defeat.
Jack Hughes is already going to miss some time. Another key injury is the last thing they need. Yet, in the first period against the Stars, Dougie Hamilton left with a lower-body injury.
When the Devils emerged for the second period, Dougie Hamilton did not come with them.
RELATED: Devils Defenseman Injured vs. Stars, Does Not Return
With Hughes missing from the lineup, the one thing the Devils wanted to do against the Stars was have a strong start. However, early in the first period, Dallas capitalized on a mistake with New Jersey in the attacking zone.
Luke Hughes played the puck along the boards. Amid taking a check, the sophomore defenseman tried to move the puck to the Dallas slot for a scoring chance. However, Wyatt Johnston read the play, intercepted the puck, and was sprung for a breakaway, netting his 22nd goal of the season.
After it looked like the Devils were playing catch up to the Stars in the first half of the opening 20 minutes, they started to find their legs.
The new first line of Timo Meier, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt put together a strong shift at the halfway mark of the first period. With Meier causing havoc in front of Dallas’ net, Bratt retrieved a loose puck and tried to shovel it over the goal line. However, in an act of desperation, Casey DeSmith made an excellent sprawling pad save to keep New Jersey off the board.
Hamilton suffered a lower-body injury in the first period and limped to the locker room during intermission.
Six minutes into the second period, Ilya Lyubushkin doubled the Stars lead, scoring his first goal since 2023.
However, the Devils went to the man advantage shortly after, as Mikael Granlund was called for holding Erik Haula.
Meier got the Devils on the board, scoring a power play goal under a minute after Lyubushkin’s to cut the Dallas lead to 2-1.
Before the Devils could escape the third period down by one goal, Johnathan Kovacevic sent the puck over the glass and received a delay of game penalty. Amid the penalty kill, Luke Hughes slashed Matt Duchene and gave Dallas a 5-on-3 late.
Roope Hintz made New Jersey pay, giving the Stars a 3–1 lead just 13 seconds into the two-man advantage.
The Devils just wouldn’t quite go away, however.
After sustaining offensive pressure at the mid-point of the final frame, Curtis Lazar drew a tripping penalty against Lian Bichsel.
Hughes from the point rifled a shot toward DeSmith, and Hischier redirected the puck past the Stars goaltender to cut the Dallas lead to 3-2.
With just over four minutes remaining in the third period, the Devils iced an extra attacker on a delayed penalty call. Brett Pesce scooped up a loose puck and scored to tie the game at three.
In the final moments of the third period, the Stars went back on the attack. A controversial icing call left Sheldon Keefe quite alarmed on the Devils’ bench.
Sure enough, the Stars found the back of the net with five seconds remaining in the game, as Thomas Harley netted the game-winning goal, spelling a heartbreaking 4-3 loss for the Devils in regulation.
Jacob Markstrom made 17 saves on 21 shots.
The Devils’ power play went 2/2, and they scored a third goal with an extra attacker on amid a delayed penalty.
Luke Hughes registered two assists, and led all Devils skaters in time on ice with 25:49.
The Devils play next on Friday night against the Winnipeg Jets.
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