James Nichols
Not even the momentum of Jack Hughes scoring the golden goal to help Team USA overcome Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics could give momentum to the New Jersey Devils.
A pre-game ceremony in which the Devils star doubled down on his love for the United States and the state of New Jersey injected even more energy into an already raucus Prudential Center crowd ahead of puck drop with the Buffalo Sabres.
And yet, in true Devils fashion during the 2025-26 season, the entire first period went scoreless, despite New Jersey owning a 12-9 shot differential.
Within the first five minutes of the second period, Hughes led an odd-man rush toward the Sabres zone and opted to shoot. However, Sabres goaltender Ukka-Pekka Luukkonen turned the shot aside with his blocker to keep the game knotted at zeros.
Then at the 08:10 mark of the second period, Hughes’ USA teammate, Tage Thompson, broke open the scoring. On an odd-man rush, Thompson received a pass from Peyton Krebs and snapped the puck by Jake Allen to give Buffalo a 2-1 lead.
In the third, Hughes flubbed while transitioning the puck from the defensive to neutral zone. The result was a giveaway to Thompson, who fed Krebs off the turnover, and his shot beat Allen to double the Sabres lead 2-0.
Sheldon Keefe pulled Allen with just under four minutes remaining in the final frame.
The desperate Devils pressured Luukkonen and finally broke through when Timo Meier scored to cut the Buffalo lead to 2-1.
However, it was too little too late, registering their fourth loss in a row dating back to before the Olympic break.
The Devils returned from the Olympic break in the exact place they left off. A slow team that lacks chemistry, and more importantly, lacks finish.
Allen made 26 saves on 28 shots, registering his 15th loss of the season despite a strong performance.
