Devils 5, Senators 4 (SO)
OTTAWA -- Winger Lee Stempniak was the hero as the New Jersey Devils extended their winning streak to three with a 5-4 shootout victory over the Ottawa Senators Thursday night at Canadian Tire Centre.
Stempniak's goal in the fourth round of the shootout ended a game he prolonged by scoring off a crease-side scramble with 31.4 seconds left in regulation time set the stage for overtime.
Until that point, Senators winger Chris Neil was lining up as the hero, as he celebrated the 900th game of his career by with his first goal, his first assist and his first fight of the season -- affectionately nicknamed a Gordie Howe hat trick
Centers Mika Zibanejad and Zack Smith, and winger Mike Hoffman had the other Senators goals. Centers Travis Zajac and Adam Henrique, and winger Jordin Tootoo also scored for the Devils.
Devils goalie Cory Schneider, who made 35 stops, picked up the 100th victory of his career.
Making his first start of the season, Senators goalie Andrew Hammond registered 28 saves in the loss.
A late second-period spearing major on Devils winger Stephen Gionta looked to be costly for the visitors when Hoffman broke a 2-2 tie with a point blast at 2:24 of the third. The goal was the fourth of the season for Hoffman.
Neil added his first of the season by taking a pass from winger Shane Prince and squeezing a shot by Schneider's trapper at 6:38 mark.
Henrique's first of the season off a rebound at 14:10 of the period kept the Devils hopes alive.
Smith scored the only goal of the second period, tying the game by flipping in a rebound after Schneider made a stop off Prince, who took advantage of a turnover created by Neil.
Three goals were scored in the first period and they all came within a 1:30 span with at least one Senator in the box.
Zajac kicked off the outburst on a 5-on-3 by squeezing a shot off a rebound under Hammond's stick after the original save was made off a point shot by winger Kyle Palmieri. It was Zajac's second of the season.
Zibanejad responded with his second 52 seconds later, with the Senators only one man short, when he intercepted an attempted pass by Devils defenseman Eric Gelinas and raced down ice to deke Schneider out on a breakaway.
Tootoo put the Devils back in front 38 seconds after that, snapping home a pass from center Adam Henrique while standing in the right wing face-off circle for his first of the campaign.
NOTES: Senators G Andrew Hammond made his first start of the season. Hammond, who was sidelined for two weeks after suffering a groin injury during training camp, was the hero of last spring's playoff run with a 20-1-2 record, a 1.74 goals-against average and a .942 save percentage. ... Playing his 900th NHL game was Senators RW Chris Neil, who entered the game 34th on the NHL' career penalty minutes list. ... Devils D Jon Merrill, who missed two games with the flu, took part in pregame warmups but wound up a healthy scratch. ... Devils LW Tuomo Ruutu missed his third game with a lower body injury but is now listed as day to day. ... Senators LW Clarke MacArthur missed his third game with a concussion and will be out indefinitely. ... Senators D Marc Methot missed his second game with a concussion, but barring a setback is expected to return Saturday against the Arizona Coyotes. ... The Senators (3-3-2) continue with the third of a four-game homestand when they host the Arizona Coyotes on Saturday. The Devils (3-3-1) will be in Buffalo to play the Sabres on Saturday.