James Birle
Despite letting a two-goal lead slip early, the New Jersey Devils fought through adversity to defeat the Nashville Predators 4-2 on Thursday night.
The Devils opened the scoring on the road with goals initially credited to Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt, but were later reattributed to Bratt (for the first goal) and Nico Hischier, respectively.
The Predators fought back in the second period with goals from Reid Schaefer and Steven Stamkos.
Hischier added another late in the third period, a deflection on a shot by Hughes to restore New Jersey’s lead. Timo Meier converted an empty netter in the game’s final minute to secure the win.
Jacob Markstrom got the start in goal for New Jersey after consecutive games sitting on the bench behind Jake Allen. With the win, Markstrom moved to 22-16-1 on the year.
Justus Annunen played between the pipes, moving to 8-10-2 on the year after the defeat.
Arseny Gritsyuk drew out of the lineup for the Devils after sustaining an injury late in their previous game vs the Dallas Stars. Evgenii Dadonov took his spot on New Jersey’s third line.
First Period
The Devils came out of the gate flying, outshooting the Predators 4-0 through the game’s first five minutes.
Annunen held strong through the early portions of the game and Nashville subsequently grew its way into the contest. However, Markstrom and the Devils were able to ward off onslaughts through the middle and end of the period.
That defensive resilience opened the door for New Jersey to grab the lead before the end of the opening frame.
The Connor Brown – Hughes – Bratt line continued to be fruitful, with Hughes firing off a shot that Bratt deflected past Annunen for his 19th goal of the campaign. The goal came with 1:58 to go in the first.
The Devils led 1-0 after 20 minutes and had a 9-6 advantage in shots.
Second Period
Once again, the Devils dominated the opening few minutes of the period, outshooting the Predators 6-1 through the opening 5:30.
The Devils used that momentum to double the lead at the 10:47 mark, with Hischier tipping a sharp-angle shot by Bratt into the top shelf.
That two-goal lead was short-lived, though, as the Predators quickly responded with a pair of goals in the next four minutes.
On the first, Nashville took advantage of a bad change by the Devils defense, allowing Schaefer to walk in on Markstrom all alone to cut the lead in half with 8:51 to go in the second.
Just 1:51 later, the veteran Stamkos made use of back-to-back defensive zone giveaways from Simon Nemec and Hughes, tying the game up before the end of the period.
After 40 minutes, the Predators had drawn level 2-2 with the Devils, despite being outshot 10-6 through the second frame and 19-12 after two.
Third Period
The third period was far more even than the previous two, with the Predators and Devils trading chances through the first ten minutes.
Nashville picked up their first and only powerplay of the game 3:27 into the period, but the best chance of the man-advantage fell to Hischier, who couldn’t find a way past Annunen on a rush chance.
However, the successful kill gave the Devils a second wind, tilting the ice back in their favor. Nashville took two penalties later in the third, and New Jersey’s pressure finally mounted.
Hischier added his second of the night and 26th of the season, a powerplay goal on a tipped Hughes shot with 5:53 to play.
The Devils defense shut things down late with the 3-2 lead, limiting the Predators to only two shots in the game’s final five minutes.
Meier iced the game with an empty net goal in the final 33 seconds, scoring his 21st goal of the season to give New Jersey the 4-2 win.
The Devils fought through adversity late in the second period and ultimately came out with their fifth win in six games. Not only that, but star center Hughes extended his point streak to seven games with two assists, increasing his total to 14 points in that span.
New Jersey will finish its road trip on Saturday night when it faces division rival, the Carolina Hurricanes.
With 76 points and 11 games to play, the Devils would need a miracle to reach the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs. But if they keep picking up points like this, they just might be in the race a little while longer.
The Devils are ten points behind the Ottawa Senators for the second wildcard spot in the Eastern Conference.
