James Nichols
Perhaps Jacob Markstrom shouldn’t have made his sixth straight start for the New Jersey Devils (32-31-2).
The 31st ranked Calgary Flames just finished selling off major assets such as Nazem Kadri and Rasmus Andersson at the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline. That should have meant the Devils kept things close at the very least.
However, they suffered a 5-4 defeat to the rebuilding Flames, falling in regulation in embarrassing fashion.
The Devils were in control of the first five eminutes, until John Beecher took advantage of the Devils in transition.
Heading a 2-on-1 toward the Devils’ zone, Beecher snapped a wrister by Jacob Markstrom to give the Flames a 1-0 lead at 5:04 of the first period.
From there, it was all Flames until through the next nine minutes of the game. Calgary doubled their lead when ex-Devils defenseman Kevin Bahl’s shot from the point was redirected by Markstrom to give the Flames a 2-0 lead.
However, it was a short-lived multi-goal lead for the Flames, as Maxim Tsyplakov netted his first goal as a Devil and second of the season when Nick Bjugstad forced a turnover in the slot, and fed the Russian forward for a one-time chance.
At 17:37, Joel Hanley caught Jack Hughes with a high-stick and was assessed a double minor.
The Flames escaped the first period with 1:37 to go on the Devils man advantage at the start of the second.
Despite the advantage, Beecher snuck the puck under Markstrom’s pads, off his skate, and in the net from below the goal line to widen the Calgary lead to 3-1 while shorthanded.
Simon Nemec quickly cut the Devils’ deficit back to one goal after Luke Hughes drove Dustin Wolf, and left a rebound chance for an easy tap-in at the top of the crease to make it a 3-2 contest on the power play.
The Flames recaptured their multi-goal lead, however. Yegor Sharangovich led a rush toward the Devils’ end of the ice. The ex-Devils forward finished a give-and-go chance alongside Ryan Strome to give Calgary a 4-2 lead going into the second intermission.
The third period started where the second period left off. Mikael Backlund’s rush through the Devils slot resulted in the puck finding twine after the Flames captain wristed one past Markstrom to extend the Calgary lead to 5-2.
Yet, Jack brought the Devils back within two after Jesper Bratt gained the offensive zone, droped the puck for Hughes, and his snipe beat Wolf to make it a 5-3 game.
With Markstrom pulled, Luke Hughes scored to bring the Devils within a goal at 5-4.
Yet, it was too little too late with 3.7 seconds left, and the Devils suffered their 31st loss of the season.
Markstrom made 23 saves on 28 shots, allowing one goal shorthanded, en route to his 16th loss of the season.
