Devils beat Senators again, this time in shootout
NEWARK, N.J. -- Last season, the New Jersey Devils lost all three times they played the Ottawa Senators, scoring only two goals in the series. This season, it's a different story.
For the second time in eight days, the Devils defeated the Senators Friday night, this time a 5-4 shootout victory at the Prudential Center. The win followed a 5-4 overtime victory in Ottawa on Oct. 19.
Rookie Jesper Bratt scored the winning goal in the fourth round of the shootout after veteran winger Drew Stafford had tied it up with a goal in the third round.
Trailing by two with under two minutes to play, the Senators (5-1-5, 15 pts) scored twice after goaltender Mike Condon was pulled for a sixth attacker to force overtime. Mark Stone's seventh goal at 18:45 brought the Senators within one before rookie Christopher DiDomenico scored with 36.6 seconds remaining in regulation, tying the game with his first goal in the NHL.
Jimmy Hayes had a goal and an assist for the Devils (7-2-0, 14 pts), while Adam Henrique, Brian Gibbons and Damon Severson scored New Jersey's other three goals. Goaltender Keith Kinkaid made 23 saves.
The Senators raced to a 2-0 first-period lead on goals from Mike Hoffman and former Devils defenseman Johnny Oduya, but squandered the advantage, losing on the road for the first time in four tries this season.
Hayes scored a pivotal goal at 18:12 of the first period, cutting Ottawa's lead in half 58 seconds after Oduya's first as a Senator put the visitors up 2-0. Sent into the clear on a cross-ice pass from Pavel Zacha, who had two assists on the night, Hayes blistered a left circle shot past Condon for his second goal of the season.
Henrique buried a power-play rebound against the league's top penalty-killing team to tie the game at 10:52 of the second. Gibbons then gave New Jersey its first lead at the 18:07 mark of the second with his team-high fourth goal, one that beat a surprised Condon with a quick release from the left circle.
The Devils took a 4-2 lead at 14:10 of the third period on Damon Severson's first goal of the season. It seemed that advantage would hold up until Ottawa's stunning rally in the final two minutes.
NOTES: Devils G Cory Schneider missed the game to be with his wife, Jill, who gave birth to the couple's second child Friday afternoon. ... Devils RW Kyle Palmieri did not play because of a lower body injury. ... The Devils also scratched D Dalton Prout and D Mirco Mueller. ... The Senators had not allowed a power-play goal on the road this season, a perfect 11-for-11 on the penalty kill, until Devils C Adam Henrique scored on the man advantage in the second period. ... The Senators scratched C Kyle Turris (illness), D Chris Wideman and C Filip Chlapik.